Stand in the Rain
by Poxy Kirkman
Summary: Saori and Takashi have grown up, but now their daughter Mai is in high school. A whole lot of new troubles and traumas await,and with her cousins antics, what will Mai do? SEQUAL TO LIFE ACROSS WATERS!
1. A new beginning

This is a NEW STORY!

Well, the sequal to be exact. The sequal to Life Across Waters! :)

I'm happy to be posting again, and even more so because I'm able to let Saori run free in my head and stuff!

Nice to see you, to see you nice!

Peace!

* * *

"Mai!" shouted my younger cousin, Cali, running towards me. "Come on! Your dads waiting to take you home!"

I huffed and closed my book. Can't anyone let me read in peace?

I stood up, smoothed out my pleated skirt, and tossed my hair behind me.

"I'm coming." I said, but she obviously didn't hear me as she ran in, grabbed my hand, and started tugging me.

"Come ON!"

"Get off!" I growled, brushing her arm off of me, she glowered, and gave me a shove. She was only a year younger than me, but she was at least two feet shorter. So I was five foot five, and she just about reacher three foot two.

She really did look like she should be in elementary school, not middle school.

On the other hand, don't let her shortness, her blond hair and sparkling blue eyes deceive you. She's as fierce as a tiger when she fights.

Her dad is called Mitsukuni, and though he is only my dads cousin, they're as good as brothers, which makes Mitsukuni as good as an uncle. Cali's mum is called Ayaka, and she isn't very tall either. And looking at pictures, Mitsukuni used to be able to sit atop my dads shoulders... not any more, he had a growth spurt in his early twenties... just ten years late, and is now up to my dads shoulders.

Funny thing, isn't it?

I started walking out of the room, and looked up fondly at the sign just outside:

'Third Music Room'.

This was the room in which my mum met my dad years ago, when they were both teenagers.

Saori and Takashi. My mum and dad.

This used to be their hang out place, but now it was more of my haunt, my chill out place... but it did get regularly interrupted.

I mean, when you have two younger cousins that always HAD to interrupt, then you rarely found it peaceful. There was Cali, and her twin brother Kanie who always ran in when I was half way through homework or a book.

But I'll admit that I love them, and wouldn't be much without them.

And while I'd been thinking about my extended family, I hadn't noticed that Cali had grabbed my hand again, and was now dragging me through a crowded hall of people trying to get out to get home.

"Cali, slow down..." I said, warning her, because she did have a tendency to hurt herself. Especially in crowded, public places.

"I'll be fine, I'm being careful." she called back over the rabble, turning to look at me.

"Yes, but you're not looking where you're going!" I said, speeding up, hoping to catch her around the waist to halt her.

"I know where I'm going! Have a little faith." she laughed, closing her eyes while she giggled.

Then I saw a huge third year high school boy walk in front of her, and she didn't notice, and crashed into the back of him.

"Shit..." I muttered, catching her as she toppled over backwards, and pulling her away as the guy turned around.

Everything went silent, and everyone started to grind to a halt to watch.

It was one of the kids from class D. One of the thugs.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

"What the fuck?" he growled, glaring at us. I heard Cali whimper and the huddled into me as best she could.

"She tripped. It was an accident." I said bluntly, pulling my mask on to make myself look apathetic. A trick I'd learned from my dad.

"Like I give a shit..." he muttered, then he stared at me. "You're that chick in class A aren't ya'?"

I nodded mutely.

He grinned.

"So, you're the one my brother wants to shag."

The mask crumbled.

"What?" I snapped, picking Cali up and nudging her to the side.

"Yeah, he said you look like a good shag, and your mums a milf too."

Did he just bring my mum into it?

"Take it back." I snapped, clenching my fists, feeling my cheeks heat up.

There were mumbles from the audience, and a few of the jerks cronies laughed from the back.

"Nah, I think if your mum looks anything like you, she is a milf."

Aaand... I snapped.

I launched at the guy, slapping him in the face, which ticked him off, so he tried to punch me.

"No one ever tell you that you're a puff if you hit girls?" I taunted, trying to wind the guy up as much as possible. He just growled, and aimed again, so I ducked, rolled and stood quickly, then hit him square in the top of his back.

He staggered off slightly, then turned and kicked, sweeping me off my feet as I was caught off guard, and making me land on the floor.

He guffawed, then spat on me, calling me a slut.

So... time for other maneuvers.

I grabbed a book from my satchel and threw it in his face to distract (as well as slightly injure) him. He went to hit, but I easily blocked it as he wasn't quite aiming for me, and I crossed it with a punch to his right cheek.

He yelled and took a step backwards, lowering his fists in shock, so I took the opportunity to clap my hands hard on both sides of his face simultaneously, thus dizzying him.

He swung again, another blind jab, so I blocked with one arm, and punched him in the gut with the other. A body shot if you will.

His right arm was blocked a second before, so he swung his left fist at me, which I knocked away, and then swung my right elbow up to his face, slamming it into his back jaw, weakening it, then punched it properly to fracture it.

As he was staggering back, I gave two more body jabs to his stomach and then kicked high, dislocating his jaw entirely.

Finally, I aimed a powerful kick to his diaphragm, probably leaving a hemorrhage.

He fell, and I stood above him.

"I'm no slut." I spat, stepping over him to leave, picking my book up, and pushing my way through the crowd.

"Someone take him to a doctor, but I don't suggest an Ootori hospital, as when the situation is explained, my uncle may just lethally inject him."

-x-x-x-x-

"Sorry I'm late dad, someone held me up in the corridor." Flashing a smile and attempting to slide into the car, but he stopped me.

"Were you in a fight again?" he asked, rubbing his temple, knocking his glasses askew.

"No, you told me no more, so I didn't." I said defiantly, but I knew it was no use, dad was always able to see through my lies.

"Maybe a little one, but he'll recover!" I cried, again making to get in, but he held me back once again.

"What year is he in, how long will it take for him to recover, and why?"

"Third year high school, Class-D, physical recovery... six weeks, psychological recovery about six months. And the want to spit on me and call me a slut again, none."

"He spat on you and called you a slut?" he asked, and I knew he was suddenly pissed off because his nostrils flared. Dads one sure telltale 'I'm pissed off' sign.

"Yeah, and he said mum was a milf."

"Where is he?"

"In there, probably waiting for an ambulance." I said, nodding towards the school and unable to hide my chuckle.

"What exactly did you do to him?"

"Dislocated jaw, a few broken ribs, a few fractured ribs, and a diaphragm hemorrhage. Possible internal bleeding, but I don't think it could be that bad."

"He'll be fine then." he muttered sarcastically.

Nevertheless, he walked to the other side of the car, and got in, so I mimicked the action... only I didn't have to walk around.

"So, where are we going?" I asked happily, chucking my bag onto the backseat and checking my reflection in the small mirror on the passengers visor.

"Looking at the new house. Mums at home with Hatori before you ask."

"I wasn't going to." I chuckled, relaxing into the soft leather seats.

He just tutted and then laughed himself.


	2. trouble in MANY forms

Hey, omg, thanks for reviewing, and I've missed y'all too :3 So much has happened since I finished 'LAW' and I'm going to have to tell you ALL of them... though now I think about it, it's not a lot, it's just a major thing for me... hehe...

Anyways, those of you who read all my A/N's in the last story, will know that I was totally crushing on a guy. I told that guy, and though he didn't reciprocate my feelings, he said he still hoped we'd be friends. And we are :D everythings cool, and I'm even invited to his party tomorrow! HAPPY 18TH JOE! lawl :3

Anyways, as for chappy 1, yaa... the fight scene was from Sherlock Holmes 2010 film... Robert Downey Jr, X3 *dreamy sigh* he was amazing in that film! Sorry, tangent... my bad.

All I can say (resurecting my old quote) is;

Enjoy!

* * *

"This... is the new house?"

"Yep."

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"This sucks."

He laughed, and attempted to smile at me, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, so I knew he agreed with me.

Okay, fair enough, it looks nice, if a little outdated. But it gave it that antique, lived in feeling. However, the gaping hole in the roof could be a little problem. I mean, I don't think that would do so well when it rained.

Dad saw it too.

"Easily repaired you know. But it's a really nice place. Come on, lets look inside."

He ran a hand through his short hair, and nudged his glasses up, then smiled at me and lead the way inside.

It did look nice, if not a little dark... but we could remove any blinds up, duh. And it was a bit dull too, but a splash of paint here, and a mirror there, and we were in business!

"Think it'll do?" asked dad, looking at me through the corner of his eyes.

"I think so. But you need to hire some people to come and decorate it."

"I will do. I just need to know which room you want, and what colors and styles and stuff... you're mother really is better at this stuff, but she's-"

"Busy at home or something. I know. You said."

"I know..." he muttered.

"Anyways, let's go room hunting."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"You want this room?"

"Yes. It's big, and it has a balcony, with a great view of everything might I add."

"It's right next to the leaky room."

"I know."

He shrugged, and totted something down on a piece of paper, using my back to lean against.

"What colors do you want?"

"Well, I want a laminate floor, white walls, a pine bed with white sheets, duvet covers and pillows. Then I could have black box shelves, a few black leather chairs, a bookcase, built into the wall maybe, and a big T.V. up on the wall."

"Anything else you're highness?" joked dad.

"A black throw for the bed, and a black fluffy rug."

"Okay."

Right, I know that that sounds like a lot, but most of it can come from my room at home. I already have a bed, but it's metal and squeaky, so it's not coming. But I do have a throw already, and I'm sure I could get half the things I want from a cheap home ware store.

But, it is up to dad, he might just go about it the easy way and get someone to buy it for him.

Or maybe we could find a catalog...

Whichever way works, that would be cool by me.

"Think we should go home yet?" asked dad, briefly staring out of the window to the garden. "I need to see your mum about something."

"Sure. And what?" I asked, grinning at him, so he grinned back.

"Non of your business."

"Fine. Just cos you want sex." I huffed, stomping out before him, but I couldn't really miss his loud rumbling laugh.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Mum, we're home!" I shouted, walking into the house, kicking my shoes off next to the shoe box, and hanging my blazer up.

Dad followed, looked around slowly, then shouted "Saori?"

"I'm up here!" came the reply, before quick footsteps thudded down the stairs.

I saw mum first, hair tied up in a messy bun, eyes twinkling like they always did, wearing some ripped up trousers and an old tee, then came Hatori, my little brother, he's nine, so still in elementary school, but I don't suppose he's as bad as other little brothers out there.

"Hey mum, hey Hati." I smiled.

Hati just smirked at me, and mouthed 'you're in trouble'.

Shit.

"Mai, how was school?" asked mum, in a sickly voice that made my stomach churn.

"Was fine, but this guy started having a go at me and Cali." I said nonchalantly, pulling out some books from my satchel to make a point that I had homework, and if she beat the living crap out of me, then I'd be in shit at school too.

"What did you do?" she asked in a not so sickly voice.

"Battered him." I muttered, making Hati snort with laughter until dad clamped his hand over the kids mouth.

"You beat him up?"

"Yes."

"School phoned, along with his parents. He's in hospital."

"And?"

"And they don't expect him to recover for six weeks. That's just physically. The mental trauma will wear off in about six months."

"Six weeks and six months? Dad, I told you so!" I said, turning to give dad a high five, and he went to, but stopped when mum glared at him.

"You knew about this?" she hissed, stepping forward, and I was amazed to see dad take a step back.

"She has her reasons." he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"I was told that she and Cali bumped into the guy, so he told them to watch out, and Mai let lose."

"Not true!" I yelled, stomping my foot, mum glared at me, so I held back on my tantrum. However I couldn't care less if he was in hospital, this wasn't fair, they hadn't even told the whole story!

"Well, why did you attack the guy?" asked mum, leaning against the wall.

"He said I was a slut, he and his brother would 'do me' and you were a milf."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yep." I replied, nodding.

"Pinky swear you telling the truth?" she asked, sticking her little finger out to me.

"Pinky swear." I said, linking our fingers and pulling away.

"... You're free to go." she said, waving her hand at me. Dad and Hati's jaws both dropped in shock. Normally mum would just rip my head off, and send me to bed. But this time was different.

Wow. Personality check!

"Okay." I smiled, walking off. I did have homework, so I was gonna go to my room and get it done.

I love my room... it's amazing. A little slice of heaven on the edge of Tokyo.

It's painted midnight blue on three walls, and the other is bright white. The carpet is white too, with a smallish blue rug. My beds metal, and it has a black throw on it, because I stole it from mum ages ago. Then there are pictures of the New York skyscrapers, in silhouette, so that looks pretty. I could hang them up somewhere.

And then there were my various doodles of random things, and all my photographs, and all that shizz.

But I had no time to think about that stuff, because I actually did have a mountain of homework to do... insert sigh of self pity here.

I had some Literature to do, a lot of maths, and a huge can't be bothered feeling was sinking in.

But... it had to be done.


	3. discoveries

Hey... so I'm bored and tired and on a period (tmi, i know, but nyaa) and I have the house to tidy tomorrow, and then my leavers do (or prom, w/e) is on wednesday, and I have only just had my dress altered, but I need to dye my hair and curl my hair, and figure out how to walk in heels for the first time in my LIFE... then I have to stop biting my nails, and I only just got the blue nail polish off them from three months ago when I first put it on...

Life story much? Yes, yes it is.

On the plus side, I've finished Professor Layton games, both the first and the second in the past three days. An achievment if I do say so myself. Dat professor is such a babe, lmao XD his accent gets me every time... I'm such a fangirl! LOL.

Anyways, for this story. I feel it's crap tbh, and I'm rushing it, and I've gotten to chapter fourteen so far, and I'm going back and rewriting stuff because it's generally shit...

But apart from that, enjoy :)

* * *

"So, you're moving house?"

"Yes."

"Definitely? You're moving closer to school.. and me?"

"Yes Cali, I am." I replied with a small smile, realizing that I've been reading the same sentence in my textbook for the last five minutes. I don't think I'll ever forget that diabetes is when the body can't control blood sugar levels, and the body produces a hormone called insulin in the pancreas.

Lack of insulin equals diabetes.

"That's good... What did your mum say about you beating that guy up?"

"Nothing much..."

"Oh."

We were both quiet for a moment, before Kanie spoke up.

"You two are so boring."

"Shut up." I snapped back, glaring at him. He stuck his tongue out at me before honouring me with a rare smile.

Kanie looked a hell of a lot like Cali. They both had blond hair, though whereas Cali's was a light bleach blond, Kanie had darker blond hair like Mitsukuni. And Cali had bright blue eyes like her mum, whereas Kanie had ocean blue eyes.

They were both good looking. Cali had a sweet innocence about her, and Kanie had a sort of brooding pout that made girls throughout the whole campus think he was mysterious and gorgeous.

The only major difference is Kanie is taller than her. Cali's three foot something, Kanie's nearly five foot. Which is tall for the children of Mitsukuni and Ayaka.

"Guys, we're at school." Cali interjected before we got into a full debate about what made an interesting conversation.

We all got out and said our goodbyes, then went our separate ways because they had to get to the middle school, and I needed to get to the high school.

"See you guys later?" I asked before they were too far away.

"At lunch!" they shouted in unison. I saw Molly jog up to them, and start to walk to class. Molly was the daughter of Kyouya and Lisa, so in a sense my cousin. Though she isn't related at all, because neither her mum or dad are a relation of my mum and dad. However, Lisa and mum have known each other since forever.

Her brown hair was in a plait, and her glasses were glinting like Kyouya's did so very often, I could see that even at this distance.

I walked slowly to my home room, sat down at my usual seat near the window, and tried yet again to read past the section about diabetes, but that just wasn't working for me, so I shut the book and faced the front of the room in silence, listening to the various conversations around me. Until...

"Hey sweety!" shouted my blue haired best friend.

You're now thinking... blue?

Yes, she dies her hair electric blue, just to make her blue eyes stand out more.

Also, she really wants to piss her dad off. She's like that.

"Hey Suki." I smiled, as she pulled up a chair and grinned at me.

"Guess what?"

"What?" I asked, humouring her.

"I told you to guess!" she cried, but the smile never left her face.

"Um... you're grounded again?"

"Yes. But that's not it." she laughed, gripping my arm and hopping up and down.

"I give up. What could be so important that you feel the need to cut off the blood flow to my arm?" I said nonchalantly, propping my head up by resting my chin on my free hand.

"I found a book!"

"You decided to finally try reading?" I smirked.

"No, it's a picture book." she laughed, shoving me before she went into her bag.

"Damn. I was hoping we were making progress." I drawled, knowing it was going to earn me a smack, but knowing Suki knew I was messing about.

"Nah, look at this though. It's from years ago, and it's a picture of the host club!"

"Host club?" I muttered, vaguely remembering my mum and dad mentioning that they were in that.

Sure enough, there they were smiling up at whoever was taking the photograph. Everyone was so easy to spot.

Tamaki was sat in the middle, on a chair, with Haruhi sat cross legged at his feet. The twins were knelt up on either side of her, grinning like fools. Then there was Kyouya on the back left of Tamaki, looking remarkably young considering now he looked like a hardened businessman.

Mum was in the middle, one hand making it look like Tamaki had bunny ears, the other arm linking Kyouya's. Then dad was stood slightly to the side of mum, opposite Kyouya, and he was smiling, but his eyes were fixed on mum.

Wow, always in love! Teehee.

Then there was Mitsukuni stood in front of dad, holding a stuffed rabbit. He did look adorable, and a lot like Kanie, just cuter. Kanie had a more... mature look about him.

"Wow."

"Isn't that your mum and dad?" she asked, pointing to them in the respective order.

"Yep."

"Jeez... your dad was hot." she laughed.

"Firstly, ew. Secondly, EWWW!." I laughed back, nudging her.

We both had a giggly moment, and flicked through the pictures of them all messing about, hosting and such, when a crowd had gathered around us.

"Hey, what's that?" asked one guy with lanky emo hair.

"Pictures of the host club from years ago. Mai's mum and dad were in it." explained Suki, while ideas rushed through my head.

For a while, people made comments on how amazing they all looked, and how my mum was hot, or my dad was good looking. Today was extended home room time, so I grabbed Suki and ran out to the headmasters office.

When we got to the secretary though, we were stopped.

"Mr Suoh isn't expecting anyone." she wheezed, her baggy cheeks flopping abut like a British bull dog.

"Can you at least ask? My name is Mai Morinozuka."

She grumbled, then pressed a button on her microphone that must connect into the main office.

"Mr Suoh, there's two girls waiting out here to talk to you... a Miss Morinozuka and her friend..." she drawled.

"Send them in then!" came the happy reply.

She nodded at us, so we went in.

"Close the door please." Tamaki said professionally, but as soon as it was firmly closed, he let out a happy squeal and bounded over to me.

"Hi Mai!" he laughed, hugging me.

"Hey Tamaki." I laughed, hugging him back. He held on for a moment, being his normal doting self. When he eventually let go, he asked us what we were up to and what he could do for us.

"Well, Suki found an old book, and it had pictures of the Ouran High School Host Club."

"Host Club?" he cried, before his face broke into a joyous grin.

"Yes, look." I said, pulling out the book.

We spent ages looking through the pictures, him explaining what each picture was from, and he could even recall how the twins were bullying him on the day of each. He clearly had a better memory than me.

"Oh, and we were doing the Alice in Wonderland theme, and your mum was the mouse! It was shortly after she and Takashi got together."

"Really?" I asked , more than slightly intrigued. All mum and dad had ever told me was they got together in high school.

"Yeah, after a bit of trouble between her and a few guys."

"What?"

"Well, she had a few admirers did your mother." he chuckled, winking at me.

"Seriously?" I asked, amazed.

"Yes, well there was your dad, of course."

"Yeah."

"And Umehito Nekozawa."

"Amatiro Nekozawa's dad I presume?"

"Yes. And there was Kyouya..."

"What?" I gasped, amazed beyond normal amazement.

"Yes, Kyouya liked Saori for while before she introduced him to Lisa... but I didn't tell you this."

"Wow..." I whisper gasped. This was beyond... anything.

"Anyway, why are you showing me this?" he asked, his violet eyes twinkling. So now Suki cut in.

"We were wondering if we could make our own host club. We just wanted a few pointers, and wondered who would be best for the positions of hosts."

"A male and female mix I'm guessing?"

"Yes sir." she chirped.

"Well, there's going to be you two. I'd also ask Cali and Kanie Haninozuka. Honey was a hit here, and if there's two adorable items, then all the better."

"Right."

"Also, you should ask Molly Ootori to help out. She might not want to host, but you could use her mathematical skills when sorting out the finances of the club, or business as Kyouya would probably have put it."

"Okay."

"Then you want to ask Riki to join in."

"You mean Storm?" I asked, making the connection between Hikaru's sons real name and his nick name.

"Yes... and you also want to ask Socka."

"You mean Thunder?" I asked, referring to Kaoru's son.

"Of course."

"Okay... anyone else?" I asked.

"Not that I can think of... but you could go to Kyouya for tips on financial funding, and how to make money as you go."

"Sounds good. Anything else?"

"Well, I'll get the old club together, and we'll teach you the tricks of the trade." he said, with a cheeky wink.

This could be fun.


	4. making plans

Hey... so I'm updating again, because my sister agreed to wash the pots today because I'm in a cba mood, but then I have to do them for the rest of the week... not my best compromise I think. Ah Well... Prom is tomorrow, and I'm far from ready, but ah well again, I'll just tie my shoes to my dress' ribbon if needs be, because they won't fit in my bag.

And omg, I have to wear a dress X_X I'm rather angry about that now! Why would I get so much stick if I went in a tux? It's a free firetrucking world! I should be able to do what I like! Grrr...

Anyways... um. Yeah. Aurora, stop giving me food, I feel cyber fat again... Cassie, yeah, Tamaki is pretty much same as ever, I just couldn't bring myself to change him, lol.  
Silky, how can you say Tamaki is adorable? Several people will disagree, but nyaa, I think he's a twit XD

Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and I don't think I'm updating for a few days because I did this ahead of schedule. Thanks :)

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"Molly's house." I said simply. Suki looked at me, while Molly stared back at us.

"Why are you coming to my house again?" she asked, nudging her glasses up, looking beyond bored.

"We're gonna see your dad. And everyone is coming, Tamaki and Haruhi and Richi. Then Hikaru and Kaoru are coming with Thunder and Storm, and their wives... and my mum and dad are coming with Hati. And Mitsukuni's gonna be there with Cali and Kanie. I don't think Ayaka can make it though."

"Oh. And I thought I'd just be able to get to my homework."

"Well you thought wrong didn't you cuz?"

"Shut up." she snarled.

So I laughed at her. And she gave me a death glare.

Soon enough, the limo was pulling up at the main entrance, and we got out and walked in.

"Hey Lisa!" I shouted, as we walked through the door and I saw her.

"Hi Mai." she gushed, pulling me into a hug. It has been ages since I'd seen her, so the usual 'you've grow so much, don't you look grown up?' thing.

I humoured her, and smiled while she went on, until I saw Kyouya come around the corner. Dear lord, he has changed a bit. I remembered looking at his picture from when he was seventeen... he never had facial hair, and looked very young. Nowadays, he had a fair amount of stubble, but in a way that made him look distinguished, and not like a hobo. His hair was also pulled back most of the time, so it looked windswept.

"Lisa, please, Tamaki's getting impatient." he grumbled, nudging his glasses up.

"You mean you're getting impatient?" she chided, smirking.

"Yes. Now come on. I want to know what this is about."

Lisa and I turned to each other and grinned, knowing he was probably way too tired to be wanting to deal with this.

"Time to get the show on the road." I laughed.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"So, the basic principle is, they want to make a host club." finished Tamaki, beaming.

And... silence. Before Haruhi and my mum started laughing.

"This is brilliant! And you didn't even give them the idea?" asked mum, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye.

"No, they found a book with all of us in it, and decided it for themselves."

"Well, do they have anyone else in it?" asked Mitsukuni from the sofa, sat by my dads side.

"Not yet... but we were wondering if some of you guys would wanna join?" I asked quietly, looking at my friends.

"Us?" Asked Cali, indicating to herself and Kanie.

"Yeah." I said, nodding.

"Count me in." she grinned. Kanie just mumbled 'sure' from the side of her, but there was a small smile on his face.

"And we wanted to know if you two wanted to join too." I said, looking at Thunder and Storm.

Both of them were red heads, and though they were only cousins, they might as well be twins. They both had red hair... as stated moments ago, and they both had brownish gold eyes. Slightly darker to their dads amber eyes. Add all that to the fact that they were born within days of each other, and it's like it was meant to be.

And they all had that mischievous twinkle in their eyes.

"Do we get to have fun?" they chimed.

"Sure I guess." I said with a small shrug.

"Then we're in!"

There was a happy mutter throughout, then I turned to Molly, who was staring back at me with a sly little smirk on her face.

"Do you want to join in?"

"Well, I don't want to be left out. And let's be serious. Non of you are going to be any good with finances."

"I resent that." I muttered. "But fine, you get the position."

She smiled slightly, something that looked almost nice before you noticed the glint off her glasses.

"I'd like that. I really would." she mumbled, picking up a notebook. "Now, we need to figure out who's who."

"As in?" asked Suki, Cali and Storm at the same time.

"As in, we all need to have a role play and stick to it. Tamaki used to be the Prince. Takashi was the Strong and Silent type, and my dad was the Cool type. We all need to figure out who we are."

And for a moment, we thought. Before we gave up and left it to the adults to mull over and laugh about while we went away for snacks.

-x-x-x-x-

The titles were sorted. Apparently, Tamaki had been being daft with the names, and when we walked back into the room, we were extremely surprised to see the blond sulking in a corner, tracing circles onto the carpet with his index finger, while Haruhi tried her damnedest to cheer him up.

"Okay?" muttered Suki, not used to his strange antics.

"Figured out our roles yet?" I asked, squeezing myself in between my mum and dad.

"More or less..." muttered Kyouya, passing his notes on to Hikaru and Kaoru, who checked it over, nodded and passed it around. Dad looked, and passed it over me, so I couldn't see. Which made me pout. Which made my dad laugh at me. Which made Hikaru comment on the fact that he hardly ever smiled eighteen years ago. Only when mum made him.

Which made her blush.

It turned out that they'd made Molly the cool type, like her dad. Storm and Thunder were the mischievous ones. Cali was the adorable one, and Kanie was the mysterious type. Suki was rebellious, and then they turned to me.

"And you're the sensitive type Mai." finished Tamaki, with a huge grin.

"Sensitive?" I asked, grinning.

"It was Tamaki's idea, and he bullied your parents into agreeing." drawled Kyouya, scribbling something in Molly's notebook then handing it back to her.

"Mum, dad?" I asked, turning to them. Dad was the first to respond giving a small grin and holding his hands up.

"He made us." he said with a chuckle, nodding to Tamaki who was stood with his mouth agape.

"Yeah, okay." I laughed, before giving Suki a shove since she was laughing so much.

"Anyway, it's late and everyone should be getting home." Haruhi interjected, leaving Tamaki to pick Richi up, while she walked off muttering about getting to the limo. Before Tamaki went along with her, he turned to me smiling, and said:

"Kyouya's going to tell Molly how to work the finances, and you can all have a meeting tomorrow after school or something. Third music room is yours, and I don't mind helping out at all."

"Okay, thanks." I said with a smile, before hugging him.

Slowly everyone left, 'till it was only me, Hati, mum and dad left here.

"Mai, you take Hatori out to the limo. We just have something to sort out here." mum said, ushering us out. I thought it was business, so I shrugged and dragged Hati out to the limo.


	5. whats up?

Hey. So I get that this IS basically a filler, but it's a key point in the plot... thing. Okay, it's not so key, it's just something to make you think OMG WTF? and stuff.

I hope you all enjoy this tiny little bit of the story :3 and omg, 42 reviews so far for just 4 chapters! We're doing well guys :) you're makin me happy.

I had a certain idea for the story, but I changed it, so if anything seems stupid... bear with me :)

Thanks, and enjoy!

* * *

About half way to the limo, Hati started whining about leaving his coat, so instead of telling him it was his own fucking fault, I sent him ahead and went back for it myself.

It was in the hall, hung up on one of the hangers (no shit), so I got it quietly, because I didn't want to disturb my parents conversation with Kyouya and Lisa.

I made for the door again, but stopped when I heard a small part of what Kyouya was saying.

"I think they have the right to know. They are your children."

"I know..." replied mum, sounding sad. "But I don't want to upset them."

Wanting to know what the hell was up, I quietly got down onto my knees, and crawled closer to the doorway t the living room.

"Saori... well, it is up to you and Takashi. But you owe it to them. They ought to know."

"I don't see why. I'm sorting it out." She huffed.

I peered around the corner, crouched on the floor. Non of the adults were really looking my way, they all had their backs turned. Dad had his arm wrapped around mum, Lisa was sat on the sofa looking miserable and Kyouya was sat next to her, his hands clasped and drooping between his knees. His head was down, and from my position, I could see a look of anguish on his face.

"Saori. Listen to me." He started, but was cut off.

"No. Listen to me Kyouya, I know you're trying to help. But it's getting better, there's no need to scare them."

She turned and was about to start walking, when he cut her down completely.

"Is that was your parents thought too?"

The look on her face, was just pain. Hurt.

"How should I know?" she spat.

I took that as my cue to run, because it looked like we were leaving. I saw Molly crouched on the stairs, and she looked at me with a small frown on her lips, like she knew something that was bad, but all I could do was nod at her as a way of saying goodbye before I dashed out the door.

I ran down the steps and stood next to the limo, and waited for mum and dad to come down before I gave them a tentative smile and let them get in first. Mum just slid in, but before I could follow, dad grasped hold of my upper arm. His eyes were cold, and he seemed kind of put out.

"I saw you." was all he said, before he let go.

Mum sat in a stony silence, with her face set, and even dads expression was unusually vacant.

The ride home was in a tense silence.


	6. advertizing!

Heyyoooooo! So I am bored, currently watching Pirates of the Carribean (spelling?) and I've come to a loggerhead about what to write next. I want to make it a good story, but the CBA feeling is sinking in! NOOOOEEEZZ!

Anyways... hm, I forgot what last chapter was about... ah yes :) a fill in. This is another fill in. Just an intro as to how these guys plan on getting customers. Nothing like free advertizing :) lmao

Well, enjoys!

* * *

"Right, so all we have to do is have fun." Said Storm, grinning at us.

"Yeah, and don't cause too much trouble, and make sure the people you're hosting for have fun too." snapped Molly, glancing at them from over her glasses.

"Damn Mollz, rip his throat out much?" laughed Thunder, clapping her on the back.

"Guys, leave her alone." I grumbled, grabbing them by their collars and pulling them away from our 'cool type' so she didn't go evil like her dad.

"What's eating you?" they chorused.

"Nothing." I snapped, before realizing that I was about to act like Kyouya in a bad mood myself.

"Oooohh... she's getting pissed off!" they laughed, but stopped when I glared.

"Mai... seriously, what's up?" asked Suki, trotting over and draping her arm over me.

"Nothing. I'm just not well today." I glanced at Molly, who met my eyes for the briefest moment before averting them.

"Well cheer up, we're advertising today." smiled Cali, jumping up onto my back.

"And we need you to at least look happy, or people won't be interested." finished Kanie.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Then let's go." said Molly, with a gentle smile.

-x-x-x-x-

We'd decided to leave it to the guys for a while, to reel a few desperate girls in that would swoon over any good looking guy.

The Hitachiin cousins linked arms, and made their way down the corridor laughing. Several girls turned to look at them, even more smiled, and when Thunder and Storm winked at them, they _all _swooned and giggled.

I saw Kanie walk slightly farther past them, and he leaned against the wall, looking pretty chilled out.

Storm took one of the swooning girls by the hand, quickly assumed the waltz position, then dipped her down. He whispered something into her ear, making her cheeks flare red, then he stood up, and span her to Thunder, who pulled her right against him. He too whispered something into her ear, making her gasp, but smile, then he span her off down the corridor.

She tripped over herself, and went flying, making about ten people gasp and have heart attacks.

Just as we though she was about to land flat on her face and break her nose, Kanie stood forward ever so calmly and caught her. Making him look like the hero.

"Watch yourself." he said in a smooth voice, smiling slightly. "We wouldn't a pretty young lady like yourself getting hurt."

And all the girls in the hall started squealing, going absolutely gaga over the guys, who just soaked it up, and gave a polite smile, making a joke, having a laugh, until I nodded at Cali so she could walk in.

Her blond hair was in large curls, so they framed her face. The other guys (not ours) glanced over to her, and smirked, because they are perverts. Plus it was unusual to see middle school kids in the high school section, and they were making a slight scene.

"Kanie!" she shouted over the rabble. "Kanie, we have to get to club."

He simply nodded at her, then slipped away from five girls arms, because he was 'oh, so adorable'.

"Us too?" chimed the cousins.

"Yeah, Mai and Suki and Molly are waiting there." she shouted above the rabble, pointing with childish innocence at us.

Heads swivelled towards us, including several of the guys heads, who saw me and Suki and smiled at us, so we smiled back.

"Which club is it?" asked one girl, clutching to Storms arm.

"Host club." he replied, with a sly smile.

"Host club?" she asked.

"It's where handsome young men and women with too much time on their hands,entertain beautiful young ladies, and men, who also have too much time on their hands."

Well rehersed. I shall applaud later.

"Entertain? How?" asked one guy, who was eyeing me up. Ew...

"You work on your social skills, while also partaking in various activities that are enjoyable for everyone." interjected Molly, flicking her hair back and staring him down.

He quickly backed down and hung his head.

"You know, if you're interested, you can come along next Monday, and we'll just have a bit of a mess about, see if you like it, and we could make it a regular thing."

"Sure!" chirped a girl, looking very happy. "Where is it?"

"The Third Music Room." smiled Suki.

"We'll be there!"

So, we all walked off, congratulating the boys on their splendid performance.

Phase one was complete.


	7. attract the guys

Hi guys! Right, people are stressing about what happened two chapters ago, where Saori got pissed at Kyouya. Well, forget it :) Be patient my pretties, the truth will come! BWA HAHAHAHA!

Righto, so this is... yet another filler :/ Sorry about that. Writers block. But the next one is kind of maybe longer.

Right, now I feel obliged to tell you about a story I came across. It's by an Author called Nappy, called Sweet Sacrifice. It's under the Fable section. It's a game, and if anyone's familiar with it, give it a look over. I personally think it's a good story, but I'm the only one that's reviewed so far, and that's really not fair, because it seems like a good story, with a lot of potential. If you're interested, then have a look :)

Anyways, like always... try and enjoy :)

* * *

"We have girls coming, but we need to make sure we get some guys coming." said Molly, writing something in her book.

"Leave that to me and Mai." smiled Suki, throwing a bouncy ball across the room and making Cali fetch it, but the petite blond didn't seem too bothered. In fact, she ran gleefully around the room, just about catching the ball, but her foot always seemed to beat her hands to it, and it would bounce away.

"Well, as long as you don't mess it up, it should be fine."

"Yeah Mai, don't cock this up!" shouted Storm.

"Mai cocks everything up, we should count on Suki." laughed Thunder, sitting in his cousins lap whilst playfully feeding him a biscuit.

"You two are gay with each other aren't you?" chided Suki, throwing the (finally) retrieved bouncy ball at them.

"Obviously, did you're pee sized brain not register that until now?" asked Kanie, who was sat on the chair left of me with his nose in a book.

"Shut up, retard." hissed Suki, throwing the bouncy ball at him when Cali brought it back, but he caught it with great precision, and threw it back at her without even blinking... or looking.

"Don't bully each other..." I moaned, intervening and catching the ball before it got to Kanie again.

"Yeah, besides, dinner breaks nearly over, we need to get to next lesson." sighed Molly, shutting her book and standing. "Girls. Good luck." she nodded at us both, then walked away. Thunder and Storm clapped us both on the back, and Kanie and Cali took it in turns to hug us (even though Kanie's was a little awkward, but sweet all the same).

Let's get to it!

-x-x-x-x-x-

The plan was to subtly talk about the club in front of some guys, then reel them in, but Suki didn't like that idea, and went for another tactic.

She walked to the back of the class, where all the guys normally stood chatting, and sat down on one of their laps.

"Hi guys, just came to advertise." she said, giving the guy she sat on a friendly hug.

"What the hell are you advertising?" he laughed, but returned the hug anyways.

"Well, we were talked into starting a club, where a group of us entertain guys and girls. We mess about, flirt a lil' bit, have fun in general. Wanna come see?" she grinned.

"This is your idea of advertising?" asked a guy at the back.

"This is easier than what the others wanted us to do." I said, perching myself on a desk nearby.

"Really?"

"Yeah." me and Suki chimed together.

"But now you know about the club." I said.

"And you're gonna come right?" asked Suki, batting her eyelids.

"Sure." replied a few guys, but they smiled anyways.

"Good." she said, standing and walking back to her seat.

"Thanks guys, seeya later."

I walked back to my seat, sat down and started talking to Suki quietly. I told her that she probably just cocked everything up, but she smirked and put her finger on my lips.

"Hush dear, listen..."

So... to humor her, I did. And I could hear some of the guys at the back talking about the club, and which girls they thought would go, and one guy mentioned that he saw me, Suki and two other girls in the hall that were in the club.

"See, it all worked out. They're talking about it, aren't they?"

"Suppose so." I muttered.

So, I sent Molly a text saying all went well... kinda.

And as everyone started learning science (except Suki, who was making origami swans out of the worksheets) I smiled slightly to myself, making a mental note that phase two... was kinda complete.


	8. club time

Hiya everyone! :) longer chapter, can I hear a WOOP WOOP! :3

Righto, everyone has been brill waiting and stuff, and bearing with me through my writers block. I have an AMAZING 62 reviews so far, and only eight chapters! I think this will be more successful than Life Across Waters... however much I prefer that story :/ lmao. I kind of despise this story, it's doing my head in.

Anyways, I guess that as long as other people enjoy this, I have to keep writing. I've started stories in the past where I've given up, and it kind of haunts you that you're giving up... evil thoughts. Shudder.

Anyways, I realize I'm ranting a lil' bit, so Ima just press on with the story nowz.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Guys, come on, like Kyouya and Tamaki said, we need to get in position to welcome people."

"Fine, coming!" laughed Suki and the cousins, who moments ago had been whispering. This only made me suspicious about what the freak they were planning. But I shrugged it off.

"Who's in the chair?" I asked.

"One of the guys." replied Molly, not looking up from her book.

"We don't wanna be in it." replied Thunder and Storm, who stood themselves firmly behind the chair, being rather awkward.

"Count me out." grumbled Kanie, who stood to the side of Cali and linked her arm. She shrugged at me, as a way of saying 'well, it can't be me now', so I turned to look at Molly.

"Mai, sit on the chair."

"Couldn't Suki?" I whined, realizing that I was going to be forced into being the centre of attention.

"No. Sit." she snapped.

I huffed, and sat down. Molly perched herself on the right chair arm, and Suki reached over and leaned up against me.

"Chill out babes, we'll get through this." she whispered, and I heard a murmur of agreement from Molly.

We waited patiently, and as the bell went signalling the end of school, we heard footsteps from the corridor.

When the doors opened, we all sat or stood up straight, and smiled as bright as we could. Ten girls and about twelve guys walked through the doors. This was our cue...

"Welcome!" we all chimed, making our guests smile.

"Hi." said one girl, taking a shy step forward. Storm walked forward and took her hand, kissing it then bringing it to the spot above his heart.

"It's nice to see you... I didn't think anyone would come... but it makes me happy that you did."

"O-oh... cool." she squeaked, going very red.

"Storm, don't leave out the other ladies." Thunder said in a fake reprimanding voice, stepping in "He's such a dummy sometimes, but I'll take care of you." he said, smiling at another five girls, who all swooned.

"I'm not a dummy!" cried Storm, feigning being hurt, thus making another girls clutch his arm, trying to comfort him.

"Yes Storm, you are. Ladies, this way, I'll make some tea." said Kanie, walking forward, smiling at the remaining three girls, all of whom giggled and blushed and tottered after him.

The remaining twelve guys looked over at us, grinning, so we ginned back.

"Hey guys, welcome to the club!" laughed Suki, sauntering up to them and linking two guys arms, flashing a huge grin and flicking her blue hair back.

"Hey... so who are you?" smirked one guy, who was stood slightly behind her, eyes down and focused on you know what.

"I'm Suki you dolt. And quit staring at my ass or I'll kill you." she said, with a hint of an evil glint in her eyes when she whipped her head around to look at him.

He smiled kinda sheepishly, then followed her to a table on the far side of the room, where she started making them laugh.

The remaining nine guys looked at me, Cali and Molly, and smiled at us, so they both took three guys each, and I took the remaining three, luckily, three guys that I knew out of biology.

"Hey Mai, never imagined you entertaining men." laughed one of them, Lee, the only one who's name I knew.

"Well, I decided to pursue a different path, being a good girl's too boring." I laughed.

He smiled at me, and we went to a vacant table, spending time chatting and laughing.

"So, what's the deal with this club? Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but what made you wanna do it?" asked Lee, peering at me from over his teacup.

"Is this an interview?" I joked, but proceeded to tell them that it had sprung from when we found out that photo book, and found out that all our parent were in the host club. So we decided to make our own, and like our parents, we all had specific roles to play.

"Roles?" asked another guy, a cute blond with grey eyes, called Terry.

"Yeah, like... like in manga there are different people: cute, handsome, strong, things like that. Well, we all have a different role."

"Like?"

"Well, you see the Hitachiin cousins over there? They're both the mischievous types. Kanie is... mysterious, but that's mainly to attract girls in with them."

"So which roles do the girls have?" asked the blond, looking at me.

"Well, Suki is the rebel, Molly is the cool type, Cali is just adorable, and I'm the 'sensitive' one." I said, emphasizing sensitive with quotation marks. "But we're here to entertain both guys and girls."

"Oh? In truth it seems boring just chatting to people." noted the guy with black hair and blue eyes.

"Not really... we girls do a bit of harmless flirting with the guys, and then gossip about the guys to the girls. Simple really." I said, with a smirk.

"Nice." laughed Lee.

For a while we just had a bit of fun, messed about, found out a little bit about each other (like the fact Terry was from America) and then Molly walked over, with her proverbial black cloud.

She wanted money...

"Hi guys, enjoying yourself?" she chirped, smiling at us all, and clutching her notebook to her chest.

"Sure sweet, thanks to all of you." ginned Lee.

"Thinking of coming back?" she asked, the light flashing off her glasses briefly.

"Yeah, it's been fun." said Terry, smiling back at her. The guy with black hair just nodded absently; he'd been quiet most of the time, so I didn't even really know his name.

"Great, so you'll be interested in our point system?" she said with a smile.

"Point system?"

"Well yes, basically, our services come with a very small price, for the cost of the tea and such, but each time you come, you get points, and the more points you get, the more of a priority you are to us."

"How much is this 'small cost'?" asked Terry, eyeing Molly.

"I haven't figured that out yet, I need to calculate all today's expenses, then estimate how many people might come next week..."

"Well, count me in." Said Lee, flashing a smile at me, and I felt myself blush.

"That's good, you two in as well?" asked the young entrepreneur.

Terry and the quiet boy nodded, and she gave a small smile before adding them to her list, and wandering off to the next group.

"What was that about?" mumbled the quiet guy (who's name I still don't know). "It's like she wants us to stay."

"She's money hungry, leave her to it and she'll be happy."

Terry laughed, and Lee nodded absently, still looking at me, and I started to squirm under his gaze, which he seemed to enjoy all the more.

Not long left now anyways.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"And tell your friends!" shouted Cali, waving the other teens out of the door. When they'd disappeared down the hall, with a reassuring 'we will', she shut the door, and gave a bright smile.

"That was fun!"

We all nodded in agreement, and sat to have a cup of tea ourselves while Molly went over the costs, but what we could do to make a profit to stay afloat.

This... could be fun.


	9. strange behaviour

Hi guys... updating again :) Another filler unfortunately. But whatever! Hey, it's something to read.

So, I got past some writers block, finished chapter 18, then the writers block returned... nyaa...

So, life sucks pretty bad right now. Writers block is to blame for that.

Anyways, hope you're all enjoying this, so far anyways, despite my many fillers. Thanks all!

* * *

"See you all next time!" I called out the door, while all the girls and Lee turned to smile back.

We were now into our third week of hosting, and whereas that first day we only had a couple dozen people come to the club to have fun, we now had more than a hundred people wander in and out for their appointments with the hosts.

Yes, we now had appointments. Each was fifteen to twenty minutes long, in groups of three to five. So we could give plenty of attention to each 'customer' and make them feel special, or just have a bit of a laugh.

According to Molly, we were making a pretty good profit, so we could possibly start having a few events, themed days, and other things, but we would of course have to start either taking bigger groups of people on separately, or combine groups so more people were seen in one appointment slot.

The 'small cost' to each of the guests is around fifty thousand yen each per month, but since they're all from pretty rich families, that is a small amount. And they think it's a bargain since it's only monthly. For now.

"We're definitely doing better." noted Kanie, smiling slightly as he propped his feet up on the coffee table.

"Yeah, and I think we should tell Tamaki. He was the one who helped us out." said Cali, sitting next to her brother, and putting her feet on top of his. They had a miniature foot war, while we all watched in slight amusement.

"I suppose so." I agreed, sipping at my coffee, because like my mum I don't like tea.

"You suppose what?" asked a chirpy sounding voice from the door. We all turned to look, and saw non other than Tamaki and Kyouya, smiling.

"Dad!" cried Molly, jumping from her seat and striding towards him, but with a small spring in her step. She definitely had some of Lisa in her.

"Molly;" replied Kyouya, ever so cool, but a smile on his face that obviously showed he was happy to see his daughter. "How are you sweetheart?" he asked her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Fine dad." she replied, grinning.

"Touching. Kyouya does have a heart." smirked Tamaki, who then had to dodge Kyouya's fist.

"Hi Tamaki, Kyouya." I said nodding at them both and wandering over for a quick hug.

They sat down and had a cup of tea themselves, while we told them how well we were doing, and the fact that more people were coming each time, so we were making appointments.

They seemed genuinely interested, laughing along with us, and referring back to their hosting days, but eventually, we had to pack up and go home. Suki was the first to dash of, with Storm and Thunder in tow, probably to make plans to wreak havoc in the future meetings.

Oh well.

Everyone else ran for the door, shouting their goodbyes, and snatching their backs from the hangers. I heard them laughing their way down the hall, but then realized I was left on clean up duty, so I got to it.

It was only after five minutes of washing up that I noticed someone was at the door. And that was only because they spoke.

"You're just like your mum."

I turned and saw Kyouya leaning against the door. He looked calm and relaxed, but there was something in his eyes that was... sad.

"Am I?"

"Kinda."

"Oh."

I turned back to the sink and continued washing up, I had to get home, and I was walking today because the limo I used had broken down, and dad took the other one to a meeting the other side of Tokyo.

"Need some help?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Not really, and do you even know how to wash dishes?" I asked with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Never too late to learn." he chuckled, picking up a towel then he started to dry the cups and saucers I'd already washed.

"Why'd you hang around?" I asked, still not looking at him, just focusing on my washing.

"I thought you might want a lift home." he said.

"Why? And what about Molly?" I asked, looking at him properly. He did look kind of sad, like something was bothering him. He also looked really tired.

Maybe he and Lisa were in the middle of a fight? Though Molly hadn't said anything.

"How's your mum?" he asked, ultimately changing the subject.

"She's... fine, I guess. She sometimes seems tired... but that's it."

"Oh, okay. So she hasn't mentioned anything else?"

"...No..."

"And your dad?"

"He's okay too..."

"Good."

I gave him one of those funny looks, that just were made to make you feel uncomfortable. He only stared back though.

He was obviously immune to glares and such.

"Anyway, since we're done here, want to get home?" He asked, obviously not letting me worm my way out of this one.

"Fine, sure, let's go." I mumbled, walking to the door, picking my bag up and walking out with him.

The ride home, we were silent. No-one spoke a word, and Kyouya seemed distant, probably thinking about something. Eventually we reached my house, so I thanked him and stepped out.

"See you soon Mai, tell you mum I said hi."

"Okay." I replied, looking back with a small smile.

Though I had no intention to do that whatsoever.

There was something about Kyouya that just seemed off... and I'd have to make sure I kept an eye on him whenever I could.


	10. parents fight

Heyoooo! Thanks for the reviews, but.. please could more people review? I know you're all there... and tbh, I want a bit more feedback on my story :3 lawl~

Anyways, as always, enjoy!

* * *

"Mum, I'm home." I shouted, walking through the door and dumping my bag down.

"Okay, well I need your help!" she shouted back.

I sighed, hung up my blazer and walked through into the kitchen, where I was sure the voice was coming from.

"Mum? You in here?"

"Well, yeah, that's why I'm stood here." she replied, obviously mocking me.

"Shut up. I didn't see you behind the mountain of frickin boxes."

"Language." she warned, to which I snappily answered back;

"Japanese."

Yeah, I'm probably getting myself in shit, but who cares?

"Mai, stop being an asshole, and help mum." piped up Hatori, who had been sat in a box... freakish child.

"Twerp."

"Moron."

"Moob."

"W-what?" he asked, along with mum.

"Moob. Man boob. You are a man boob."

He just stared at me for a minute or two, before we both burst out laughing.

"Fine, let's help."

And all together, we packed pans into boxes, then wrapped plates, dishes, cups and saucers and glasses in newspaper and/or bubble wrap, and put them into boxes. After an hour and a half, we were done, so mum called a takeaway and we all sat on the counter top eating chicken fried rice and pork chow mein with chopsticks.

We all laughed and had fun, then we heard the front door open then slam closed. We heard dad kick his shoes off, then he went right past and into his office, slamming that door.

Silence.

"I think dad had a bad day at work..." muttered Hati, raising some more noodles to his mouth.

"No shit." I muttered back, earning myself a clip around the ear from mum.

"I'll go see what's wrong..." she sighed, standing and binning her remaining food.

We watched her go then waited a full five seconds before we jumped up and sprinted down the hall. Dad had a glass door to his office, that was left slightly open, and we could see dad sat at his chair, looking at mum who was sat on his desk.

"Takashi, tell me..." she said, leaning over to him and touching his shoulder. He shrugged her off, which shocked me, because I'd never seen dad pissed at mum.

"Saori, why didn't you go today?" he asked. I wasn't sure what he was on about, but her expression hardened.

"We're getting it sorted out... today was only a consultation, and I had things to do here."

"I still wanted you to go!" he shouted, loud, standing suddenly. His eyes were blazing, and he looked genuinely upset. Mums eyes widened and she gaped at him. He seemed to realize his error and he looked appalled.

"Saori..." he started, stepping towards her, wrapping his arms around her.

Their conversation went quiet as they whispered to each other, so I took the opportunity to grab Hati by the hand and drag him down the hall.

"Bed time Hatori."

"Okay, night Mai."

"Night."

I ran into my room, changed into my pajamas and jumped into bed. I pulled the covers up over my head.

There was a flashlight, a pen and a notebook under my pillow. My diary. I kept all my thought and feeling in this thing, and it was one of twenty I've been keeping since I was ten.

'_Dear Diary._

_Today has been beyond fucked up! Host club was alright I guess, but then Tamaki and Kyouya came at the end. That wasn't too bad I suppose, but I don't like Kyouya. He was asking too many questions about mum, and I know he used to like her, and before like I said he told her she needed to tell me and Hati something and she got pissed._

_So, after he gave me a lift home, because he wasn't gonna let me walk, and then I had to pack some stuff to take to the new house.._.'

I peeked out of the covers and saw the many many boxes scattered about... yes, I'd been packing here too. I slipped back beneath the cover and continued to write.

'_So, yeah, I had to pack and then Dad stormed in looking very annoyed (understatement of the year Diary, you should have been there!) so mum went to see, and then I spied, and I found out that mum had to go to a consultation, and dad got annoyed saying she should have gone, when she didn't._

_What's she keeping from me by the way? I mean I am nearly sixteen, I'm old enough to deal with stuff. I'm a big girl now, I can handle things. But apparently not. Mum doesn't think so anyways, or she would've told me. It might have been something to do with business... maybe we're going bankrupt, and mum had to go to a meeting or something, and she didn't, so tomorrow we're gonna be in the gutter... nah, I don't think so._

_I guess I'm just gonna havta figure it out, because I'm not gonna be told anything anytime soon._

_Anyways Diary, I have to go, if someone comes in and I'm hidden and they read this, I'm in shit for spying_.'

I snapped the book shut and stuffed it back under my pillow along with the pen and flashlight. It's didn't make for a comfortable slumber, but you get used to things after a while.

Then my door opened, and a really tall person was stood there.

"Hi dad." I mumbled, bracing myself for whatever might come.

"How much did you hear?" he asked, sitting next to me on the bed.

"Of what?" I asked him, sitting up properly and leaning against him. He draped his arm over me and I cuddled closer to him.

"Mai, how much do you know?"he asked gently, staring up at the canopy above my bed.

"I heard you say she should have gone to a consultation, and she said she was busy... then you shouted."

"You heard that?" he sighed.

"Kinda... it was loud." I murmured.

He gave a half hearted chuckle before he looked at me with his warm gray eyes that you had to love.

"Mai, whatever happens, promise me you'll be okay?"

"Depends what happens dad, but I'll try." I said with a small smile.

"That's my girl."

He stood and looked around, then sighed.

"Moving in two days... Looking forward to it?"

"Sure dad." I said with a yawn, surprised at how tired I suddenly felt.

"Night baby girl." He whispered, bending down to kiss my forehead.

"Night..."

Then it was all dark.


	11. moving in

Hi y'all! Howz it? I must appologize to the few still stressing at me because I've not said what was going on in the fight at Kyouya's, and then when Takashi was shouting, and blah, blah, blah... and the truth is, you won't find out for a while, but you will indeed find out. Chapter 20 I think.

Also, I won't be updating for a week and a half me thinks, 'cos I'm off to Spain (AGAIN) :) In March I went with school, on wednesday I'm going with my dad and sister Sarah. Should be fun, and I'm gonna go boy hunting to piss my father off. Should be amusing!

I've had writers block, as many of you know, and the worst thing is, it's starting to wear off, and my dad says I can't take my laptop to Spain with me to write anything, so I have to go stoneage and write on paper... with a pen *le gasp!*

Anyways, I'm gonna stop blabbering, get to writing as much as poss, have fun... and as always~ Enjoy!

* * *

"Well, at least the roof is fixed now!" laughed dad, taking a huge box off mum and jogging up to the house with it. Mum just sighed, smiled and went to get another (smaller) box so dad wouldn't be doing all the work.

I smiled because yes, the roof was fixed, and my room was done, and all my stuff was already moved in.

While we had a load of moving men walking around, bringing in furniture and such, I decided to take a walk around and see what the place was like.

First I was gonna trek to the gates and back to see how far it would be if I ever had to get a lift. Plus, if I got farther away from this place right now, I won't be asked to do anything physical.

I skived away at the gates for a while, then I started walking up to the house again. It was long enough to have had everything inside and the parents were already unpacking stuff. I could just get to my room and start there.

Inside the house had been cleaned, had new lights put in, bright paint, and it looked quite nice.

My room was all decorated to how I'd asked, and my new bed was placed right in the middle against the wall, and dad had even had a nice little decorative fireplace installed with a large sofa in front so I could chill out. There was a desk and everything, just like I'd asked.

There were loads of boxes piled up against the far wall, so I set about unpacking them. I first put all the books on the shelves, then I started moving my books and papers and pens and pencils to the desk. Making the bed up, deciding where I should hang my pictures and wondering when I could be bothered putting all my clothes away...

Damn, there was a lot to do.

"Is this where you've been hiding?"

I turned to see mum and dad at the door, both smiling, looking around the room.

"Takashi, you let her pick the biggest room." laughed mum.

"So? If it keeps her out the way." he laughed back, striding over to ruffle my hair. "Want any help in here?" he asked me.

"Not really, I just need to figure out where to hang these pictures, and then I need to put my clothes away."

"That's your mums job then... I don't fancy folding clothes." he mumbled, turning and walking away. He pecked mum on the lips (so I stood in the middle of my room making barfing noises) and then he walked away chuckling.

Mum then looked at me with that 'you're such a lazy teenager' look on her face. But she picked up my clothing and walking into my closet and started putting stuff away anyways.

We worked silently until everything was away and my photographs were propped up against the walls they were going to be hung on. Mum said something about having to go sort the kitchen out, and wandered off, leaving me to my own devices.

I took this chance to go and see what Hatori was doing.

I eventually found his room, and let myself in. The daft nine year old had just routed out his Nintendo DS, and was sat playing Sonic or Mario or whatever he had been obsessed with recently.

"Hati, you're meant to be unpacking." I said, leaning against the door frame.

"I know, but I don't want to." he said, pressing the buttons on his game furiously.

"If I help will you?"

"Sure I guess."

"Okay, come on then."

He unpacked a load of boxes, and we both put the stuff away in their places, but because he had that much crap, it took ages. I eventually gave up and left him to the last bits of junk, but I don't think he minded much, because I had spent ages with him.

On the way back to my room, my phone beeped, so I pulled it out of my pocket and slid it open to read the message:

_'Mai, meet at my place ASAP or u get your butt whooped!_

_Love Suki :)_'

I closed my phone and sighed. That was nice.

She knows we're moving today, so why tell me to come to hers? Bitch.

Only one thing I can do though...

I went into my room and walked into my (HUGE) closet. I grabbed the nearest clean pair of knee length black leggings, a ruffled denim bandeau dress thing, but it only went to my mid-thighs (hence the leggings) and a pair or black dolly shoes.

I pulled my hair back into a messy, scraggly ponytail, and found a small black saddle bag, that I could fit my phone in and my purse so I could have some money with me.

I ran downstairs, and past my mum, to whom I shouted "I'm going out!" to. I didn't hear her reply, but dad sure did, because he stepped forward from the door and caught me around the waist.

"Where to?" asked mum.

"Suki's, I think it's something to do with club."

"Host Club?"

"Yes."

"Have you unpacked?"

"Yes!"

"Go then..."

Dad put me down, I hugged them both, and ran off to get to the limo.

I honestly had no idea if this thing had anything to do with club, but so what? It got me out of the house.


	12. Unknowing

Hi guys, I know I said I probably wouldn't update for a while, but ah well, I felt compelled to do so... especially since Cassie is stressing about not knowing what the deal is until chapter 20, and I'm killing you all with suspense, ect.

Sorry bout all that by the way, I know, I'm a terrible person. But that's why I'm posting again (for the last time before I go to the land of the nicel toned, perfectly bronzed spanish guys) so I can make it up to you all :)

Okay then... enjoy~

* * *

"What do you need me here for?" I asked, walking through the doors into Suki's room, shutting them behind me and staring at her and everyone else.

"We're making plans!" shouted the cousins, while Suki waved pieces of paper in my face.

"What plans?" I asked, snatching the papers off her before she paper cutted my face to oblivion.

"Plans for host club stupid!" Suki yelled, obviously hyper off coffee (which she hates, but drinks because it annoys her dad and step mum.)

"Right..." I looked through the papers, and saw plans for dress codes, themes and various other things, but non of which I could imagine bringing in more people. My teenage mind could only think of one thing.

"We need to sell ourselves to bring in more people." I said.

"We are advertising, but mostly by word of mouth. I estimate our popularity and profits will increase by 13 percent in the next four months if we carry on the way we have." noted Molly.

"No, I mean actually sell ourselves." I pressed, willing for them to realize what I meant.

"Prostitution?" asked Storm, who winked over to Thunder, who then leaped over at his cousin, hugging him tight and shouting that they would be partners, to which Suki and Cali laughed girlishly at.

"No!" I yelled, throwing my shoe at them both, smacking Storm on the head so he started whining.

"Well what? Because it sounds like you're urging us to have sex." sniped Molly, who had now snapped her book shut and was staring at me, mouth slightly agape.

"Auction. Do an auction for a day together, the highest bidders go on a day out with us all together, and all the proceeds go to charity. That way, people feel like they'll be helping, but also getting something from it if they bid high enough."

"So, loads of people hear about us, and all we have to do is make people aware of this." smiled Kanie, leaning forward in his seat, smiling.

"Post fliers about. We can get 'the headmasters' permission, but all we have to do is bat our eyelids at Tamaki and we're in." laughed Suki, nodding (and bouncing).

"Then more people will know about us, and if they think we do good stuff, as well as provide a bit of entertainment, and have some fun, then more people will come." I finished, grinning.

There was a murmur of excitement through all of my friends, and Molly smiled slightly, opened her book again and began writing furiously.

"So, we have to get Tamaki's permission first of all, then we can make real plans, because if he says no, then it will be a waste."

"Right. Well, since that's sorted, I'm going home." I muttered, retrieving my shoes and making for the door. Before I could get there however, I felt someone's hand wrap around my wrist.

Thinking it was Suki's, due to the person holding it being very quiet, I turned suddenly and jerked my hand above my head... but I saw Molly tumble backwards from my action, and not the blue haired one.

"Shit..."

She hit the floor, and sat there looking at me, before she shrugged, stood and grabbed me by the ear, dragging me out the room.

I could have got out of it, but I feel I owe her now.

"Mai, I need to talk to you." she said quietly, letting go but still walking down to the front door.

I followed, nodding slowly, until she stopped at my limo.

"Is everything okay with your family?" she asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, had fun moving about and stuff... mum and dad got into a fight though the other day."

"Oh?" It seemed I had piqued her interest.

"Something about mum not going to a consultation or something like that. They've made up now though." I reassured her.

"That's good... it's just, my mum and dad say to tell you to keep an eye on her..."

"Why?" I asked, starting to walk down the path to the limos.

"No idea, they wouldn't say..."

"Hm..."

We looked at each other briefly, before muttering goodbyes, and going into our separate limos.

It seemed like everyone knew something that I should know, but I didn't.

But I'll find out, I promise anyone that.


	13. auction

Hey, back from Spain. All in all, what a shit holiday, I wish I'd stayed home... On the plus side, I've covered half the climax for the future, writing 6 chapters in my week in between argueing with my sis (sorry bout that Sas) and my dad, who frankly I don't gove two flying rats asses about. Everything that went wrong was my fault. I started a period two days in, so the pool and ocean were out of bounds (sorry if you didn't want to know... but now you do, haha XD ) and I have a mosquito bite on my leg the size of a golf ball... i think it might be infected. Whoop-ti-doo.

The plus about having Edward there was the alcohol. I had a rather large cocktail made of about four different kinds of run and a bit of vodka to boot, and then I thought it was clever to try and send a message to someone, though it went pretty well with only a few spelling errors when I looked over it. Anyhow, JustAnEcho, sorry hun.

Another plus is the luscious spaniards and french I saw. Ooft. And then I got a bottle of vodka from a magic man. no joke. I won it at a magic show, lol.

I have toothache.

I miss my mum...

For now, deal with this chapter while I cook up some more shit ones. In case peoplez hadn't noticed... not in the best mood. Hope you enjoy though :) lol

* * *

I was going to find out. Just not any time soon apparently.

I'd snooped around the whole house, looking for letters or anything that would give a clue to what was going on, but I'd had no such luck.

Right now I was sat in Tamaki's office, letting Molly and Suki do all the talking while I mulled over my own personal things.

"So, we want to know if we can organize an event, where all proceeds go to charity, and the prize for the highest bidders is a weekend trip, while the host they bid on to spend time with makes it as enjoyable as they can for them."

"So... people will be bidding on spending a weekend with you guys?" asked Tamaki, swinging his legs up onto his desk and leaning back in his chair, looking very relaxed.

"Yes, that's the basic principle." replied Molly, nudging her glasses up.

"Right... and where do you plan on taking them that you could afford since all the proceeds are going to charity?"

"We could take them to my families holiday resort... I'm sure you went there with your host club?"

A small smile graced his lips, and he gave a slow nod.

"I remember... and is this okay with your dad?"

"I've already asked him, and he said yes." replied Molly, smiling back.

"Then go for it."

Suki turned to me and smiled, and I just smiled back as best I could.

"Let's go then everyone, we have a lot to do!"

-x-x-x-x-x-

We'd all posed for our pictures, and had uploaded them onto the school site (which most people went on surprisingly) saying that the highest bidders for each host would go on a weekend trip with the whole club, and it would be made as enjoyable as possible.

Of course, it was guys bidding on girls, and girls bidding on guys. As much as we'd enjoy hanging around with our own friends, people might as well get a fair chance.

"Now we just have to open for club." smiled Kanie, who was in the middle of play fighting with Cali, and had her in a headlock.

It really wasn't fair, he was a foot and a half taller then her... you wouldn't think they were twins if they weren't so alike in looks.

"Kanie, let her go and you two can open the doors in two minutes." I said, walking past them towards Suki, Storm and Thunder.

They were arguing quietly about something or other, but I saw them passing around some object that I was about to get off them.

I walked around them slowly, giving them a wide berth so they wouldn't get suspicion, then I wandered around the sofa, getting nearer.

Storm went quiet, and started looking at me, so I sat down and made it look like I was relaxing. I heard him start talking again, so I opened my eyes and looked over. They were holding a small box, and talking about something inside it.

I slipped down off the chair, so I was crouched down, then I waited for a second when non of them were looking my way, and ran.

It took them a whole five seconds to register the fact that I'd just ran past them and grabbed the box, but when they did, they were all on their feet trying to get it back.

"What is it?" I asked, leaping over a couch to avoid Thunder, who had been running at me from the right.

"Nothing!" He shouted, but looked panicky.

"Tell me or I'll look!" I threatened, teasing the lid.

"No! Don't!" Yelled Suki, giving me a pleading look.

"Well, what's in there?"

Storm was the first to give into my glares, and he slumped his shoulders.

"It's our next prank."

I sighed and opened the box, only to find a giant spider was starting to crawl up my arm. Normally I'm afraid of spiders (maybe why they were telling me not to open it) but this time I was too exasperated to freak.

"A spider?" I asked, standing stock still because it was on my shoulder and was trying to grip my hair.

"Yeah... we got it to scare people, but then we get rid of the spider and we're heroes..." Said Thunder, who was wide eyed, staring.

"And it's not venomous..." Added Storm, as if that was about to make me feel better... it's fangs were visible, and it was making a growling sound.

"Well, that's always reassuring, because it's on my head." I hissed, now slightly afraid.

I then felt someone taking it off my head. Turning around, I saw Kanie, and was thankful for his cool head.

"Hey little guy." he cooed, letting the spider run over his hands.

We all gaped at him, so Cali filled us in.

"He spends a lot of time hidden in the attic, so he's used to spiders."

"...Scary." we all muttered simultaneously. I find it hard to believe he's Mitsukuni's son... who spent a lot of his teenage years having tea parties, eating cake and talking to a stuffed rabbit.

I shrugged, and took the box to Kanie, so he could put his new friend away, but he declined.

"Nah, I think I'll show him to the other women."

"Right... just keep it away from me."

So, I took a seat, and waited for people to come in so we could begin the probably most bizarre host club we had had yet.


	14. the new dark magic club

Hi guys. I'm feeling better now and stuff, and whoop whoop! We're nealry at 90 chapters! YAAYY! This is going really well, I'm happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy HAPPY!

Also, I'm not updating until I get 100 reviews. I think that it's fair. Anyways :D YAAAAYYY! I'm happy!

I think I mentioned that...

Enjoy~

* * *

"That was a shambles!" yelled Molly, throwing a teacup at Thunder, who had taken the spider from Kanie (who was actually successful in making girls less shy and scared of it) and set it loose in the club room. Kanie had now climbed up a pillar and was trying to coax the spider from a corner of the roof.

Many girls had run screaming, one fainted, while around ten stopped and giggled at the boys trying to retrieve the arachnid.

I sighed and went to start cleaning up, but Molly grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"No Mai, you're always left to clean up, and this time those three can do it." she said, pointing to Suki, Thunder and Storm.

They all sulked, but weren't about to tell Molly no, and just hurried off to get mops, buckets and brushes.

I looked at her, then shrugged my shoulders and decided I was gonna go for a walk. I was beyond bored, and my parents weren't expecting me home for another two hours because they knew I normally stopped behind and scrubbed the room spotless.

I waved goodbye to Molly, who just shouted that she was coming around later to discuss ideas for our 'charity reward day out' thing, so I shouted back that it was okay, and to come any time after eight.

Then, I was free.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I was walking down the hall, and saw someone with blond haired pulling a cloak on and run down a staircase into complete darkness. And because you didn't see that everyday, I followed.

Then I realized, I stumbled in on the Dark Magic Club... damn...

"Wait, who's that?" asked a voice, from under one of the many hoods.

"It's that Morinozuka girl in the host club. Stupid." replied another person, who turned and comically smacked the other persons arm. That made the first person retaliate, and it escalated into a whole slap war.

"Would- would you two stop?" shouted a deeper voice, and I saw the blond from earlier pull his hood down and glare at them. It was Amatiro Nekozawa.

"Oh, hey... sorry if I interrupted..." I said quietly, more than aware that all the hidden eyes were staring at me.

"No problem... we're just about to set about curses... and I know who I have in mind..." muttered one girl, who when she removed her hood, she was ghostly white, and had obviously never stepped into sunlight.

"Go away and eat vitamin D tablets..." hissed Amatiro, pulling out a flashlight from his pocket and shining it over at her. She shrieked and ran behind a couch, where I could then faintly hear her sobbing.

How... amusing.

"Sorry Mai..." he said, turning to me and smiling slightly.

"Hey, no problem." I smiled back with a shrug.

"Guys, wrap it up, paste face ruined it for today..."

"Don't call me paste face, sun lover!"

"Ya, good comeback." scoffed Amatiro, flashing the light at her again.

"You know what, I give up on her..." he muttered, giving me a withering look.

"You do?" I mused, glancing over to the couch.

"Yeah... it's like she thinks liking sun is the equivalent of worshiping Satan."

"I see how that works" I muttered sarcastically "Just leave her to it..." I told him, not bothering hiding my smirk.

"Hmm... hey, I saw what the host club were up to, on the site." he said, suddenly very happy – smiley, grinning at me.

"Oh, the charity thing?" I asked, because hell knows what's put on the site.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of bidding." he said, winking. I scoffed and shoved him, making him laugh.

He just smiled at me and laughed a bit more, you see, Amatiro has known me for years. He might be a year older than me, but we've always stopped to chat and joke on corridors when we've seen each other, and talk about stuff.

He's kind of like my guy best friend in a way. Though we rarely see each other, he knows everything about me, and I know... a lot about him. Like the fact that he _doesn't _take after his dad in many respects. Like he might be in the dark magic club, but he has no problem at all with the sunlight.

And I know he's only ever had a dad. He's his dads 'love child'... the product of a fling. He has no problem admitting it, and even jokes about it sometimes, but I know he got a lot of stick for it when he was little... grownups would be really horrible to him, and treat him like he was a piece of shit, even the teachers...

Tamaki put a stop to that extremely quickly.

There's no point being horrible to someone for something they had no control over, he's actually a really sweet guy.

"So, who you bidding on?" I asked, following him up the stairs again.

"Anyone but you. I'd hate to spend a day with your ugly ass face."

"That's nice of you." I replied, faking sounding hurt.

"I thought I was being harsh, but okay." he laughed back.

We talked for a bit longer, as we walked down to the car park, and he offered to give me a lift home.

"Sure my face isn't too ugly for you?" I asked, grinning.

"I'll bare it..." he sighed, dramatically.

"Yay!" I cheered, jumping in ahead of him.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The ride to my house was fairly quick, not like it usually was, and I said my goodbyes to Amatiro.

Upon walking inside the house, I was overcome with the sound of shouting, laughing, then a smash.

Damn, someone was in shit...

"Takashi, what smashed?" shouted my mum, walking out of the kitchen and looking into the lounge. Dad, however, took this opportunity to leap across the room, nearly tripping on the sofa he was vaulting over, to sweep mum up off her feet and start carrying her off. A rather amusing scene if I do say so myself.

"Takashi, I'm serious! What happened?" she said, aiming a firm thump to the top of his back... something that would probably harm a normal person, but which (barely) made dad flinch.

"Nothing..." he replied, putting her down.

I looking into the lounge and saw Hati sweeping up pieces of what used to be a lamp as fast as he could, knowing he was working on borrowed time.

Remember, I'm stood at the door, watching all this from a rather good spot... and I wasn't about to speak and ruin it, so I leaned back against the door and watched the show.

Mum did eventually get past dad, with a few whispered threats that I couldn't make out, but seemed to shit him up, and he sighed as she walked past him. Then there was chaos as mum yelled at them for being stupid and knocking over the lamp, but even worse, lying about it.

"Takashi, you're thirty eight! Don't you have a little self control?"

Dad's reaction was just... so amusing.

"_We've _been through several mattresses, what do you think?" he asked, a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye.

"Seriously... I've had enough of this..." mum groaned, walking back to the kitchen, but even she was smiling now, and Hati was making bleugh sounds from behind them, sticking a finger down his neck and stumbling about, before dying. Pretend obviously.

And now since the show was over, I was going to get to my room and see how the bidding was going so far, before I was asked to help make dinner.


	15. is it me, or are my parents tired?

HIIII!

I kow I said 100 reviews, but :p I think 96 is enough to be fair. ANYWAYS! I have to tell you guys something.

I had a spark of - *cough* insanity*cough* - GENIOUS! I've made a poll, and I think a few of you would be interested to take a peek~ Go on, you know you want to...

Anyways, tis in my bio, so, hope to hear from you guys soon!

As always, enjoy!

* * *

I was laying down on my bed, with my phone practically glued to my ear, and my laptop on my stomach. Molly was sat up next to me, typing furiously on her laptop, and muttering to herself every now and then.

Lisa and Kyouya were downstairs with my mum and dad. We could hear laughter every now and then, but we ignored it.

"So far, more people are bidding on the guys... but there are a few people bidding on us girls." mused Molly. I was relaying most of the information over to Cali and Kanie, who were at their house with speaker phone on.

"How much has been raised so far then?" asked Cali, sounding tired and bored.

"Um... for the guys, about fifty thousand all together so far, most of the bidding is on Kanie though." I heard Kanie start laughing here " and the girls are up to thirty thousand in total, but we haven't had half as many bids."

"Are people actually willing to spend that much on us?" asked Kanie in mild shock.

"Apparently." I replied.

"Well, I'm gonna have to see if for myself. Talk later okay?"

"Sure, see you tomorrow."

I shut my phone, and looked at Molly, who was staring back at me.

"What?" I asked, shifting my laptop off my stomach and sitting up so I was facing her.

"Nothing." she muttered, but didn't shift her gaze.

"You're creeping me out. What's up?"

"You have the highest bid so far. Refresh your page and look."

And so I did. Fifteen thousand for me, and the other three had varying bids that made up the other fifteen grand.

"Oh." I muttered, deciding Id had enough and shut my laptop down.

"It's no surprise. You're by far the prettiest, and you're very sociable. I know you hang out with all sorts of people... like that Nekozawa boy. People everywhere know you."

"So?"

"I don't know... it's just you don't seem to realize how many people like you."

I shrugged and lay down, relaxing as best I could.

"You're a lot like your mum in that respect... she's sociable isn't she?"

I nodded in agreement.

"But, you prefer to be on your own... so you're like your dad."

"I'm just unique." I muttered, with a small smile.

"Though not sensitive in any way whatsoever. Tamaki was being a fool labeling you as that... we'll have to pull some stunt to make the girls at least think you're sensitive."

"Like what? Pretend my boyfriends broke up with me so they'd feel compelled to come and cheer me up?"

"You have a boyfriend?" she asked, looking quite perplexed for a brief moment.

"No, but other people wouldn't need to know that." I laughed, so she laughed along too.

We eventually stopped laughing, and it died down into quiet, and all we did was keep checking on the site and talk about random things every now and then. Hatori barged into my room after a good forty five minutes of pointless nothing, and said that Kyouya and Lisa were leaving, and Molly had to go too.

"Alright... I'm coming." she mumbled, shutting her laptop and picking up her bag. "See you tomorrow Mai."

"Bye Molly." I said, giving a small wave.

Once Kyouya, Lisa and Molly were gone, I got up and went downstairs. Mum was in the kitchen on the phone to someone, and dad was sat on the couch dozing off. So I sat next to him and leaned on him, because he was like a very big pillow.

"Hi Mai." he yawned, opening one eye and smiling slightly at me.

"Hey dad... you okay?" I asked, because he was blinking a lot.

"I think I'm going blind... it's beyond stupid how bad my eyes are."

"Maybe you should put your glasses on?" I suggested, because he wasn't wearing them.

"I've lost them." he sighed, shutting her eyes again, before he hugged me.

"Dad..." I muttered, smirking.

"Yeah hun?"

"Your glasses are on your head."

His eyes opened slowly, and he reached up and got the glasses off his head. His mouth fell in a small 'o' shape, and then he started laughing, loud.

"I'm going senile... so much for being the Judo champion, I don't think I'll make it through another match."

"Yeah you will dad... we'll just have to get you a chain to put the glasses on."

He chuckled again, ruffling my hair. "I don't want anyone to think I'm that old... Wish I could go back to contacts, but I lose them too."

"Plus, they're harder to find... How long have you had to wear glasses?"

"Since I was fifteen."

"So if I'm anything like you or mum, then I'm gonna need them."

"Dunno." he yawned, then started to fall to sleep right there and then.

So I sat quietly next to him, just cuddled into his side.

It might sound really stupid, or childish, or just plain weird, but I love spending time with my dad. When I was little, he had a lot of meetings and things to go to, so I barely ever saw him. It wasn't like I never saw him, it was just rare, and when he was back, he'd try and make up the time, but end up falling asleep. So I was used to cuddling like this.

It might not seem like much, but as long as he was there, it was okay.

Mum was still talking in the kitchen, and I was trying to listen, but I only caught her saying goodbye.

When she walked in this room, she took one look at me cuddling dad, and she gave something resembling a sad smile.

"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked, nodding towards the back of the house, so she probably wanted to explore the grounds.

"Sure mum." I sighed, carefully edging away from dad, so he wouldn't wake up, then I went into the lobby to get some shoes on, and I pulled on dads jacket, because it was cold out.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"We haven't talked properly in ages."

"I know." I muttered, cuddling closer to her. She was wearing dads coat, so she was probably slightly warmer than me in his jacket.

We were sat under one of the trees, looking at all the plants in the garden. Mum said something along the lines of the man who planted all the flowers and trees, who designed the layout of our garden, used to go to school with her. Ritsu Kasa-something... whatever.

I wasn't paying attention. I was focused more on the large bags under mums eyes, and the constant frown she had on her face.

Something was seriously up...

"What's wrong?" I found myself blurting. She looked at me, shocked for a second, before she shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." she sighed, looking at me.

"No duh..." I sighed, leaning up against her. "I mean, look at you mum, you're not exactly the pinnacle of great health with those huge bags under your eyes."

"Don't remind me..." she grumbled, slouching against me.

"Why you so tired then?" I asked, looking at her.

"Just got a lot on my mind." she mumbled, and right now I could see her eyes drooping.

"Think we should go in before you nap on me?"

"No... I'm comfortable." she growled, clinging to me, but it just made me laugh, and I rolled over.

"Come on, lets get in." I said, chuckling.

I dragged her to her feet and we started walking inside.

Thank god it's Friday...


	16. Aiiku?

HIIIYAAA!

Ah, so you peoples voted on my poll :) Tis still open, but I think I have a pretty clear result so far. Most people say yes, but then the one sado who said no to me doing a Saori x Kyouya fic (SARAH!) thinks tis a bad idea because she thinks Kyouya is an ass. Meany, I think he's a babe XD

Anyways, so this is chapter 16! Only 4 more until you find out the result of what the frikkin hells going on! Though I think by chapter 19 you'll get the gist of it. Simples.

Anyways, I'm starting on the other fic, for Kyouya, and it's picking up from chapter 50 of LAW, and then I'm gonna do a basic general short fic about all the shizz that might've happened. Wala, many people I upset will be happy :) I'm a Goddess, I know. Haha~

Just in a good mood, I'm listening to Il Divo, and they have smexy voices and tis quite relaxing. Hehe, so, enjoy!

P.S. - I like saying tis :D

* * *

I opened another bag of caramelized popcorn, tipped the contents into a large bowl that would probably only last another hour, and grabbed a two liter bottle of coka-cola.

I was having my very own movie marathon, watching all the old, sad films, because no decent films had come out in the past few years.

On the lineup was Titanic, A walk to Remember, Marley and Me, and a few others I'd routed out of a dusty old box in the attic. Why the hell put away such good DVD's?

Of course, I had three boxes of tissues sat up in my room, and I was stuffing pillows around my door to muffle the sound of my tears, otherwise mum and dad would come in thinking I had issues at school.

I'd had to pause Titanic at the part when the boat was going down, and Rose was trying to free Jack from his handcuffs. It was the part where she raised the Axe above her head, and she looked strained, but if you paused it just in the right second (which I had) she looked like a maniacal Axe-killer that you'd find on The Shining or something.

Like she was gonna hack up Jack... teehee~

So I wandered back upstairs and blocked up my door again, then sat down and pressed play.

I did end up crying at the end, where the daft ginger told Jack she'd never let go, then... let go. I don't think she ever grasped the concept of 'Don't let go!'... MORON!

Poor Jack... though I never liked Leonardo Di'Caprio. So it's all good.

I was still crying though, when I remembered the poor captain going down with the ship...

Then dad came knocking.

"Mai? You okay in there?" he asked, trying the door only to find it was locked.

"Yeah, dad, I'm fine." I called, wiping my eyes quickly, and getting up before he busted the door down.

"You don't sound it... should I go get mum?"

"Oh, hell no!" I called, sprinting over to the door, kicking the pillows away and flipping the catch. Dad was stood there, looking very tired in his pajamas, slippers and dressing gown. His hair was more tussled than usual and his glasses were slipping down his nose.

He'd obviously awoken from some nap.

"You've been crying..." he mumbled, stifling a yawn.

"I've been watching Titanic." I explained, letting him into my room. He flopped rather unceremoniously onto my sofa, glanced at the screen and smiled slightly. "Jeez... you're just like your mother."

"Unfortunately." I laughed, shutting my door again and sitting next to him, inviting him into my marathon without actually inviting him. "On the other hand, she got a pretty cool dude as a husband."

"I'm not raising your allowance." he said quickly, looking at me.

"No need." I laughed, cuddling into him. The DVD played rotated the disks inside, and Marley and Me started playing.

We both laughed together, and agreed that we'd have to get a Marley dog sometime in the future. Then we were both crying at the end... well, I was and dad was patting my head sympathetically, though he looked teary eyed himself. He was mumbling something about our old dog, Chance, who had died when I was little... I couldn't remember him.

"It's late." he mumbled, looking at his watch which he never takes off. It was mums dads, so, my granddads, though I never knew him. It was her most prized possession, and she gave it to dad on one of the anniversaries. I remember that, and I think I was only seven or something. And no matter how tattered it looks, or who he's having a conference with, he'll wear it proud.

"I know, you should go to bed." I laughed, but ended up shoving my fist in my mouth to stop a yawn.

"I'm comfy here." he grumbled.

"Mum said that when she was leaning on a tree in the yard." I mused, remembering yesterday's events.

"Did you leave her there?" he asked, eying me.

"Nah, that's why she's in a mood with me."

"Oh."

He sat there for a moment longer, stroking my hair while I lead down against him, before he grunted and started to sit up, making me move. In one movement, he'd picked me up and was carrying me to my bed.

"Dad! I'm too old and too big for this" I laughed, flailing my arms around playfully.

"You're never too old to be tucked in... Besides" he said, putting me down on my bed and pulling the covers up over me. "You'll always be my little girl."

He kissed my head, smiled slightly, and started to walk out my room, though I'm sure he heard me echo "Always." before he shut the door.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I was awoken the next morning by the sound of my mum and dad shouting things to each other, and many footsteps. No, they weren't in an argument, they were just getting dad ready for work or something.

"You should've woken up earlier!" shouted mum, running past my bedroom before she stopped abruptly. She then burst through my door, grinning and shouting "Rise and shine! You kept your dad awake, now you can help him get ready!"

"Muuuuuummm..." I whined, dragging out the word as long as I could, but she was having non of it, and stalked over, ripped my covers away from me, and pulled me out of bed. We ended up laughing, and having a bit of a scrap before we both rushed off to find dads briefcase.

I knew where he kept it, and he always forgot... it was in his office, shoved on a shelf on his desk when he piled papers on top of it. I ran right in there, picked up the papers from the top of the case, and dropped them on the top of the desk, then I grabbed the case, turned around and went to run out to dad, but slipped on one of the papers that I must have dropped and fell like a sack of potatoes.

I did yell, the classical 'OW!', and dad was the first to hear and come in to see if I was okay. He saw me on the floor, and started laughing.

"Thanks for finding that case Mai." he chuckled, helping me up, and taking it off me. But more papers fluttered out of his case, which I suppose had opened slightly when I fell.

"I'll get them." I muttered, and stooped down, to try and get some. I saw dad jump slightly, and he stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder.

"No, it's okay Mai." he started, but I gave him a small smile and brushed his hand away.

"I'm already there, no worries." I laughed, and snatched up some paper.

Of course, I glanced at it before I handed it back, but I had to do a double take... this wasn't for some meeting...

"Aiiku hospital?"


	17. things arent normal, and I will find out

Ah, everyones getting annoyed now :D Do you want to find out? Not long now~

But nyaa, still gotta wait.

I'm wondering when to put that story up, cos honestly, I'm not sure when to. Cos it could confuse me. Not you guys, cos that would just be a spin off on what COULD have happened, but didn't. But it would for me, cos of, you know, stuff.

I'm also starting to wish I hadn't done a sequal. It sucks majorly, and has no structure, and I hate it with every fibre of my being, and it sucks majorly, and I haven't developed it as much as I should have in the opening chapters... and did I mention that it sucks? Well it does, majorly.

But whatev, you guys want to read this shizz, so, you know... I'm not one to dissapoint -.- though I wish I was. I don't wanna write this anymore, and I wish I'd gone down a diff route for the sequal, sticking to Saori's P.O.V. as it woulda been much better.

Howevs, enjoy.

* * *

"Aiiku hospital?"

Dad looked as if he'd missed a heartbeat, but then smiled and prised the paper from my hand before I could so much as read any more.

"Yes?" he asked... as if I'd have a problem with it.

"Why... why do you have that?" I asked, feeling my stomach twist up... but dad only laughed.

"It's just something for Kyouya, he wanted me to do some research." he said coolly, still smiling at me like everything was well with the world.

"Kyouya asked you to do research... for what?" I asked.

"Nothing to do with you." he chuckled, ruffling my hair.

"Hmm." I mumbled, smiling slightly as he walked away, shouting to mum that he was off and that I'd found the case for him. I saw him pause and whisper something to her, she glanced at me, before turning to him, whispering something back and giving him a kiss goodbye.

I stood there for a moment mulling things over, then decided there was only one thing to do this early on a Saturday morning when you were having a sort of crisis.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Suki, for gods sake WAKE UP!" I shouted down the phone at my groggy friend.

"Well, I'm sorry my dip shit of a best friend phoned me at stupid o-fucking-clock in the morning!" she yelled back, before banging her receiver on whatever hard object was close by.

"It's nearly nine now Suki." I said, flopping on my bed and rubbing my temple.

"That's five hours earlier than I'm meant to wake up." she snapped, but I heard her groan as she got up and started walking about. "What's the deal?" she asked, walking about somewhere.

"Well, my dad lost-"

"His virginity?" she asked quickly, then laughed. "no, I joke, but hold on, I'm gonna scream for a while and shout abuse at you while I disturb William and the she-man having sex."

"Oh, okay." I muttered, holding the phone at arms length from me while she shouted random obscenities down the phone while her dad and step mum were going at it. Sure enough, I heard her dad start shouting from his room or whatever, but when it went quiet, I put the phone back to my ear.

"Done, thanks for that." she laughed "So, your dad lost what?"

"Dad lost his briefcase, and mum woke me up this morning 'cos I kept him awake last night watching films, so I was looking for the case 'cos mum told me to, and when I found it, some paper dropped out and it was for Aiiku hospital. He said it was research for Kyouya, but I don't think it's research for Kyouya."

"Leaving aside your life story... Molly's dad? Why would he need your dad to do research for him?"

"I have no idea... mind you... I do know that Kyouya and the Ootori industries recently bought out the owners of that hospital. Maybe he needs field research."

"Doubt it, he has people for that doesn't he?" she asked, so I mumbled an agreement.

"I have no idea babe. You might have to do some snooping." She added, clattering about in her kitchen (I presume).

"I thought so." I sighed, running my hand through my hair and plucking out a good five strands in one go. "I'm going bald too." I whined down the phone to Suki.

"Pulling your hair out again?" she asked, with a hint of a chuckle.

"Maybe." I muttered, cursing her mentally for her intuitive...ness.

"Well stop." she laughed.

"Fine, I got to go anyways. Goodbye Miss Morose."

"Goodbye Miss Morinozuka."

I put the phone down, and just lay there on my bed, staring at the ceiling. This was really starting to bug me.

"Mai! Come down please!" shouted mum, so I yelled back okay and trudged down in my pajamas.

"You could've gotten dressed." noted Hati, smirking at me.

"Whatever, at least I'm not adopted... like you." I hissed, grabbing some toast and sitting across from him.

"You're an accident." he sniped back, glowering at me.

"Found you in a dustbin. I would've put you back but mum took pity on your ugly face." I growled.

"Yeah, well-" he started, but mum came over.

"What are you two whispering about?" she asked, looking at us both.

"Just saying that it sucks to be up this early." Hati said smoothly. As much as he might be annoying me right now, he knew how to talk both of us out of trouble... and mum always bought it.

"Well, you could go back to bed." she said with a small smile.

"Seriously?" I asked, secretly thanking the lord for my nine year old brothers quick mind.

"Yeah, just make sure your rooms tidy." she said, waving her hand at me.

I just smiled, gabbed another slice of toast, and went to my room.

I had no intention to go back to bed (however much I might want to) but I got dressed instead.

Of course, I couldn't choose between two outfits. One was a cute purple dress, that would stop at my thighs and I could wear knee length leggings, with black dolly shoes. The other was a black and white checked dress, with white leggings and black dolly shoes.

It might not seem like a hard choice, but I stood in front of my mirror holding them both up until I growled in frustration, hung them both back up, and instead got some denim shorts, then came to my mid thighs, a black tank top and a pair of converse trainers, that used to belong to my mum.

I tied my hair back into a plait, slung a small bag over my should so it rest quite nicely on my hip. In it went my phone and my purse.

I looked in the mirror. Okay, maybe a little bit too revealing, but I would blend in fine if I went for a walk through the town.

I ran downstairs, past my mum and shouted;

"I'm going out!"

I ran through the the front door, down the drive, and onto the street. I whipped out my phone and sent Suki a text 'Meet me at the mall!'

And I was off.


	18. taking things into my own hands

Hey to those few people who read this XD

I was reading through my old reviews, and they made me remember about all the laughs I had with people like PixieG, SisterFried (Silkey and Chey~), JustAnEcho, Aurora, Auburndq, BelzeneffPwnsAll (or Pablo-something or other, whatever you go by now) and SO many others that I can't remember the names of too well, so sorry if you're not all there :s my bad.

And they made me remember all the dolls I got too XD All those poor dolls I either warped or killed... fun times, right?

But back to the present. Chapter 18, so keep trying to figure it out. Some of you have come quite close to guessing the plot, but I shant say who~ haha!

Enjoy!

* * *

I was sat in the food court in the mall, waiting for Suki. I had a soda in one hand, a burger in another, and was just chilling out leaning against the railings.

I was about to give up and go window shopping when I saw her blue head come around the corner, and she was running at me. Apparently, it was cosplay day today.

She was wearing a blue and white anime type school girl dress, along with knee high socks and black shiny shoes. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she looked like something off sailor moon.

"Suki Morose, what the hell..." I asked, massaging the bridge of my nose.

"This outfits annoys my dad, so I put it on and told him I was going out in public! And I'm changing my sir name. It sounds like I'm a sad person, but from now on, I'm Suki Sunshine!"

"Ignoring the irony in your sir name – personality problem...Whatever." I moaned, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the mall.

"So, what are we here for? Boy hunting?"

"No you douche. I want to get to Aiiku hospital as soon as possible."

"Um, why?" she asked, slowing down, so I had to pull harder to get her to move forward through the crowd.

"Because, my parents are keeping something from me, and I have to find out what it is."

"And Aiiku hospital is the place to go why?"

"Because that's where the answers are." I snapped back.

I dragged her to the exit, amid the dozens of people staring our way because of Suki's stupid bloody outfit.

-x-x-x-x-x-

On the way to the hospital I'd had enough of people constantly staring, so I'd dragged Suki into a shop and bought her a new white mini skirt, as well as a dark blue tee to match her hair.

"I like the dress more!" she complained, pulling at the tee.

"Button it."

And surprisingly, she did.

We stood up from behind the bushes, and made for the entrance. I knew my dad was here, and probably Kyouya too, because there were two hulking guards by the door.

I grabbed Suki, pulled her behind a pillar, and said to her in a hushed voice:

"There is no way in hell we're getting in there unless one of us is hurt, or I say that I'm my dads daughter. But if I say I'm a Morinozuka, they're bound to tell dad I'm here."

"Right, but neither of us is hurt..." she started to trail off, then she noticed my puppy eyes and freaked.

"Oh no! No, no, no!" she cried, trying to run, but I grabbed her hand and covered her mouth, despite the fact that she was licking me, trying to get me away.

"Suki, please, somethings up. A few weeks ago, my mum skitzed at Kyouya. Then my mum and dad have been argueing since... I need to find out what's up."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. So I removed my hand.

"Fine, but don't snap my leg."

"Like I would."

"No, but you could." she mumbled.

"Indeed, but I won't." I reassured her.

I held her at arms length, gave her a sorry look, then kneed her in the leg. She let out a low growl, glared at me, then clung on to me for support.

"I'm gonna kill you later, and if we're spotted, then it's a wasted effort... and I'll kill you twice over."

"If we're spotted, then I say you hurt your leg, and it's the truth. So we'd be cool."

"And if asked why you brought me to this hospital out of the many you could have been to?"

"Well..." I started, thinking it through as I helped her limp around "I know Kyouya owns this hospital, and we were walking in the park two blocks away and you tripped and hurt yourself."

"Whatever." she mumbled.

I supported her, and we both looked as innocent as we could as we walked past the guards. They gave us a sympathetic look, Suki managed a small 'hi' before we staggered off inside.

An old nurse saw Suki limping, and bustled over, being all kind and stuff, so I passed Suki off to her, and said I would wait in the waiting area.

Of course, I wouldn't, I'd be wandering around... or so I'd thought. More guards were stood around and there was no way I was gonna get through without looking like a patient.

I face palmed as I realized I was going to do something Tamaki would probably do.

I started to cry. Fake tears of course, but it caught the attention of one of the guards, and he took pity on me.

"Miss, what's wrong?" he asked, kind of awkwardly.

"I- I want to s-see my granddad, but I've b-been told I can't g-g-go past cos you you g-guys." I blubbered, wiping my hand across my eyes.

"Which ward is your grandfather on?" he asked, and with a quick look at the sign just behind him, I answered:

"Ward E."

"What's up with him?"

"He's ill, I don't know... my parents won't tell me."

"Well... go on through then. But don't tell anyone."

"I won't, thanks sir." I said quickly, wandering past him and up the corridor.

I had some knowledge of this place, I'd been brought here when Cali and Kanie ganged up on me (when I was half asleep) and ended up breaking my collar bone. I'd been taken to have it bandaged up, my arm in a sling, etc, then I'd gone to Kyouya's office to say hi.

My bet was, if dad was here and Kyouya was here, then they'd both be in the same place, and because Kyouya has an office here, they'd be there.

Kyouya wasn't always here, and though he had no real interest in medicine, he liked to take care of the financial aspect of all the hospitals.

His office was at the back of the hospital, on the third floor, and very private. Also, very hard to get to. I'd have to know the pass code, or have a card to gain access.

I had neither.

I went the general way, following whatever route I knew. No-one tried to stop me, but I got more strange looks the farther on I went.

I eventually reached a door that would lead to the corridor where Kyouya, and possibly my dad, was. And surprisingly, it was open...

I crept through, and stopped where I was. I could hear my dad talking to Kyouya.

"So, it's all good now?" he asked.

"It looks that way, but we can't be certain yet."

"Well... it's better than nothing." mumbled dad.

I heard scraping of chairs, and I knew if I didn't hide, I'd be in shit. Panic set in, and with seconds to spare, I settled for the closet by the side of me.

I leaped in, and pulled the door so it was open just a crack.

"Are you and Saori planning on telling the kids anything?" asked Kyouya nudging his glasses up and looking back into the office, obviously waiting for dad.

"Well, I'd like to, but Saori's reluctant." dad muttered, walking out of the office, handing his coat to Kyouya while straightened his blazer. "She doesn't want them to know much..."

"It would be best to tell them though..." Kyouya replied, shaking creases out of the coat and handing it back to my father.

They started walking up the hall towards me, and I held my breath in fear they'd hear me.

"I get that, but I understand why she's reluctant to. Seriously Kyouya, how do you tell your children that-"

Then the door bumped closed, but I heard the last words.

And my heart plummeted.


	19. That aweful sinking feeling

Hey guys, I'm in a posotively AMAZING mood today :D

I forgot to mention that I was getting my GCSE results today, didn't I? Well I did! OMG I passed them!

1-A (R.E/R.S) 7-B (Business, Biology, Physics, Maths, English Lang + Lit, Citizenship) 3-C (Chemistry, Music, Spanish) 1-D (AS level Culture and Communication) and a Pass in Enterprise!

How good is that? I might not have got as much as some other people, but I still passed, so now I can go on to do Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Psychology in College, or maybe I could do English... I'm thinking either doctor/nurse or english teacher.

But yeah, thanks for the reviews, I think it's 100+ now or something, aaaaaaand I already have the perfect ending planned out to make all y'all hate me, but I don't care, cos im HAPPY!

OHHHH, and Aurora, thanks for Tamaki doll :) like I said to you, he's on a shelf because tis now against the law to harm a Tamaki.

anyways, enjoy the angst :)

* * *

"Fuck sake Mai, where have you been?" yelled Suki, who was sat outside the hospital.

"Bathroom..." I muttered, slumping down next to her.

"For the last half hour? Unless you had a massive poo, I doubt that." she scoffed, taking a long drink from a lucozade bottle.

"Is your leg better?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Yeah, no thanks to you. It''s bruised by the way."

"Oh... sorry." I mumbled.

I then stood up, grabbed her hand and started to walk away with her limping in tow.

"Where the fuck we going now?" she whined.

"I'm going home."

"Why?" she asked, stopping completely and looking at me funny.

"'Cos."

"Oh... Hey, did you find out about your parents secret thing?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said, trying to pull her along.

"And?"

"Nothing... I just wanna get home."

"Mai... what's up?"

"Nothing, just, let's go."

-x-x-x-x-x-

I walked in slowly, and went right up to my room. I just felt so heavy. Hati passed me on the stairs, saw I looked miserable, and stared at me.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing..." I replied, brushing him away while I trudged up to my room.

"Did you and Suki get in a fight or something?" he asked, still fussing over me.

"Something like that." I said.

"Well, it'll be fine, you always make up."

"Yeah, we do." I said, while managing a small smile. I was kind of happy that he was so concerned.

"Well, mums making dinner now, so hurry up whatever your doing."

"Will do... hey, is dad home yet?"

"Yeah, in his study."

"Okay."

He walked off then, satisfied that I was okay and going to make up with Suki (in his mind anyway) and I went up to dump my bag in my room.

I also wanted to change my clothes. I stripped out of the tank top and shorts, and instead pulled on some baggy jog pants and an old hoody.

I trudged downstairs again and walked into the kitchen. Mum was making pasta, so I took it upon myself to set the table. I had just set down the last of the cutlery when mum walked in and put the bowl of pasta on the table, along with some bolognaise sauce.

"Mai, can you get your dad while I get Hatori?"

"Sure mum." I replied, smiling slightly at her, before wandering off down the hall. Dad would probably be in his office, working or something. He never stopped.

I knocked on the door and let myself in, looking around for him. I saw his legs sticking out from under his desk, so I walked over and looked under.

"Dad?" I asked, when I saw him messing with wires.

"Yeah?"

"Dinner's ready."

"I'm just trying to fix this." he said.

"Why, what happened?" I asked, sitting on the computer chair while he continued to look for a loose wire or something.

"It wouldn't turn on." he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Is it plugged in?" I asked, smirking after I spotted the plug out of the socket.

"Um..." he muttered, before he turned awkwardly and saw for himself.

"Ah, shit." he mumbled, before laughing long and loud. "Oh well, let's get dinner."

"Yeah."

I watched him go off, humming to himself, smile on his face, and you wouldn't think something was wrong.

I walked in after him, and took my place at the table, next to Hatori, listening to my parents conversation while poking my food about on the plate.

"How did it go today?" mum asked, picking at her dinner too.

"It was fine, everything great and things are getting better." dad replied, with a smile.

"Well that's good."

"It is!" he laughed, eating his dinner quickly.

"So, everything will be okay?" mum mumbled, glancing at him.

"Hope so."

I stared at my plate... I felt physically sick. I couldn't believe that they were keeping something so big from me and Hatori, and it just wasn't fair. We had a right to know.

So I pushed the plate away and fled the room, ignoring my mum shouting after me while I went to my new safe place.

I needed time to think.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I'd found a tree in the garden about a month ago that was nice and sheltered at the back. I'd sat in it and was trying my damned hardest to wipe away my tears when I saw dad coming down the garden.

He climbed the tree quite easily, and sat on a thick branch next to me. We looked at each other for a moment, before he held his arms out, I climbed into his lap and he enveloped me in a hug.

"What's wrong Mai?" He whispered, stroking my hair back.

"Nothing." I muttered, cuddling into him.

"Hatori said you had a fight with Suki or something... want me to drive you round there so you can make up?"

"No dad." I said, with a small chuckle because he was being a typical loving dad.

"Well, whats up?" he asked, sitting me up propperly on his knee, so he could see my face better.

"Well... I don't really know to be honest." And honestly, I didn't. Sure, I knew mum and dad had kept a big decret from us, but I didnt know the full extent of it.

"So, why are you crying?"

"Because I'm stupid."

"You're not... and it's getting cold, so let's go back in."

I got off him, and he jumped down, then turned and smiled up at me, silently assuring me he'd catch me.

And when I jumped down, he did catch me with ease, then he put me down and we walked back into the house together.


	20. truth

Hey everyone :)

I've signed up for college now, how cool? I'm taking English Language and Literature, Psychology and Theology. So should be okay for me.

I know you've been waiting for ages now, and here it is! The chapter that reveals it all!

Have fun ;)

* * *

I'd gone back in with dad, made some excuse about not feeling hungry and I'd gone up to my room 'turning in early'.

I locked my door again, as was becoming regular for me, and I walked over to the bed and flopped down on it.

There was one thing I needed to do, because I couldn't vent to anyone else.

Diary.

I extracted it from under my pillow, along with my pen, and lead down on my stomach while I wrote. Once finished, I read through it.

"_Dear Diary..._

_Today's not been so cool. I was woken up early, then I was running around the house trying to find dad's briefcase (as usual, it was in his office). I've been wondering for a while why mum and dad kept secrets from us for a while. But they weren't telling, so I went to Aiiku hospital to find out for myself._

_That was another story altogether. I had to persuade some guards to let me through, find my way to Kyouya's office, then I ended up hiding in a closet to spy on dad and Kyouya._

_The 'rents obviously don't know I was there, thank god, and I think it's best I keep it secret that I know for now..._

_Diary... my dad's got cancer_."

* * *

Weren't expecting that now, were you?


	21. saving belzeneff and other shizz

Wow, I had you all upset didn't I? Lmao, you all fell for it, na na na na naaaa na!

Sorry, I'm quite immature, but happy. I wrote 9 chapters for this story, YESTERDAY! in just 24 hours! omg, how good is that?

And now, I got a shoutout, to a miss KittyCat. x from her friend Dale! This chapter is now officially for her, because she is made of pure awesomeness, and is funny, and random, and a goor friend, who also happens to love Takashi... shame he belongs to Saori. I feel the same way as you hun, a figament of my imagination stole Takashi Morinozuka.

I hate her. lmao XD

But yeah! Glad to hear you like the story, and hpe you like everything I have planned ;)

I'm also planning to write a six-shot, perhaps seven, because I feel like it, and I had a request from... someone (forgot your name, but I'll look it up) to do one about Nekozawa, so I shall get to work on that.

But as for the rest of you, enjoy!

* * *

"Righto everyone! The bidding is over! Here's the people that won you, go find them and break the bad news." Yelled Suki, bouncing about and handing small cards to everyone with our winners names on them.

"Bad news?" asked Kanie, taking his card, glancing at it and gaving a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, they're gonna havta spend a weekend with us." she laughed, bounding over to Thunder and Storm.

"Whatever." muttered Kanie, slipping the card into his pocket and heading for the door.

Once Suki came to me and I glanced at the card, I couldn't help but smile.

"Lee..."

The idiot had bid eighty thousand on me... winning by one yen over someone else who went by the name 'Sunny'. A small fortune, but ah well.

And apparently I was popular.

I got up, made sure I looked presentable, and walked to the first library... Lee was probably there 'studying' on a computer.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Lee, what are you doing?" I asked, sitting next to him on the computer.

"Preparing myself for alien attacks." he muttered, blasting another UFO on his game.

"Dude, a new version of space raiders is not going to help you."

"Whatever..." he grumbled, looking at me when he got blown up. "What brings you here anyways?"

"Eighty thousand yen." I said, grinning.

"...Oh... I won?"

"Congratulations! I'm yours for a weekend!" I cheered, throwing my arms up for emphasis (and in slight sarcasm).

He just laughed.

"Awesome, now, wanna help me defend the galaxy?"

"No. I have a life." I said, getting up, giving him the card, and walking off. Smiling to myself when I heard him laughing.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It was on my way back to club I saw Amatiro skulking the hallways.

"Amatiro, what's up man?"

"I'm looking for Belzeneff... he's my dad's, and he said I could use him in DM club, but someone's stolen him."

"Ah, crap... want help looking for him?" I offered. Bur Amatiro only shook his head and looked out the window.

"No, I found him."

I looked out the window, and saw the cat doll stuck on a high branch of the tree outside, with a sign hung from him saying 'ha ha'.

Some people are bastards.

"Who stole it? Once we get him back, we'll curse them or something." I suggested, opening the window wide enough for me to jump through... I only hope I make it to the tree.

"Nah, it's okay... Mai, whatcha doing?"

"Getting Belzeneff." I said, hoisting myself through the window and standing precariously on the windowledge. I heard Amatiro make 'ahh' sounds, obviously hesitating to let me jump from a window to a tree about ten feet away... but I could do it.

And I did.

It was then only a matter of climbing to the branch the doll was on, unhooking it from the twigs and then jumping back to the window where Amatiro was waiting.

"Mai... you didn't have to..." he said, smiling at me.

"No problem." I said, giving him a one armed hug, and smiling as he slipped the doll back into his pocket.

"So, what you up to?" he asked, walking down the hall with me.

"Well, I just went to tell Lee that he won the auction bidding on me. He beat a guy called Sunny by one yen, pretty gutting."

"Majorly." he noted.

"Now I got to go home and pack. Should be fun."

"Yeah... anyways, thanks. And have fun this weekend, and if Lee pisses you off, I got enough curse dolls."

"Shouldn't have to use them, but thanks!" I said, laughing. And he laughed too, waving bye to me.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Mum! I can't find my sandles!" I screamed, running downstairs because I thought they might be in the closet that we hung all our coats up in.

"Are they not under your bed?" she yelled back, sitting on the sofa, but taking a moment out of her busy schedule of 'Jerry Springer repeats' to glance at me.

"No, I checked!" I cried, almost paddying.

"Oh.. fine, I'll help look." she grumbled, pressing the magic pause button so she could wander around freely and not miss the woman fight with her sister because she was sleeping with her husband.

She went right into the kitchen, opened the cupboard under the sink... and pulled out my sandles.

"What the hell?" I asked, taking them from her.

"Hatori hid them and told me not to tell you." she said, smiling slightly.

"Remind me to kill him when I get back." I grumbled.

"Sure thing babe, now let me get back to watching people murder one another."

"Fine mum, bye."I muttered, running up the stairs two at a time to pack my case.

-x-x-x-x-x-

All the hosts had piled into a limo, while all the guests were picked up in another. We made our way to the Ootori family resort seperately (and we set off an hour or three earlier to set some things up), and on the way, everyone except Molly, Cali and myself fell asleep.

I took this opportunity to mull over what was wrong with my life. I was in high school... that was bad.

I had a little brother that hid my shoes... scrap that, I had a little brother.

And... my dad had cancer. Possibly dying? I don't know how long mum and dad have known this, or what the hell is going on, or... how long he might have left... or if he's recovering, or anything.

This sucks.

"Mai?"

I snapped out of my trance, and looked across to Molly and Cali.

"What?"

"What's bumming you out?" asked Cali.

"I... I just found out something."

"Oh?" the girls asked,

"It's nothing though."

"You're lying." muttered Cali, narrowing her eyes.

"Tell us, it's not good for you to keep things bottled up." added Molly, nudging her glasses up.

"Well, you would know." I snapped back, but sighed... "My dad isn't well."

"What? Takashi isn't well?" Cali whispered, eyes widening like a doe.

"No... I snook into the hospital, tailed my dad and hid in a closet. I heard him talking to Kyouya and he said..." I gulped, and averted my eyes "he said 'How do you tell your children that you have cancer?'"

"He's dying?" cried Molly, so I dived on her and clapped my hand over her mouth.

"Shut up brainiac! He didn't say dying, just cancer... and I don't fancy jinxing it. Plus the 'rents don't know I know, and I don't plan on letting everyone else know!"

"Your mum and dad didn't tell you?" Cali asked quietly. I shook my head in response, and we were all silent for a moment.

"So that's why dad's been stressed lately... he's been consulting your dad?" Molly mused, looking apathetic, but her eyes were sad.

"Probably." I muttered.

"And my dad's been off too... him and your dad have always been really close."

"They've all been close." I said, hugging myself.

"You do know you should tell your dad you know. You deserve to know."

"I'd like to, but I don't want to get in trouble."

"For what?" Molly asked, looking at me sharply. "Wanting to know what was wrong with your father and taking the matter into your own hands?"

"Yeah." I said, with a small chuckle, because I would be in trouble for that.

"Well, that's stupid." Cali spat, pushing herself into the seat and glaring at the roof.

I hummed quietly in response, looked out of the window and sighed.

Somehow, I don't think that this little trip is going to be very enjoyable now.


	22. fuck my life

Heyyyyyy!

Howzit? Wassup homies? Ah was hangin' in ma crib when yo bitches was whinin like da white trash yo is, tellin' me to hurry ma ass up an 'update' and shit. I was like yo peeps! no need to rush a brutha from anotha motha, get ma drift, yo'z all ma sistas from otha mistas!

...I have... **no**... idea. My brain officially combusted.

But anyways, i think the gist of it was you guys wanted me to update, so i did. Happy? Hope so, I am :D

I got into college! I'm doing English Language, English Literature, Psychology and Theology. Sounds rather boring? Well haha haha ha haaaaa, you're not doing it :3

I'm rather hyper... maybe.

ENJOY! :D

* * *

I was sat on the beach, next to Lee who was trying to build a bigger sandcastle than the cousins, but Suki would randomly run over and kick his over, so he would have to start again.

Needless to say, the Hitachiin duo were winning.

"Sack it, I give up." he said, after Suki ran over his castle for the fifth time.

"Ah well, you were close!" laughed the Hitachiins.

Lee grumbled a little, laughed a little, then turned to me.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked, getting up.

"Sure." Because seriously, he didn't leave me much choice. I had to do what he said (within reason, so it didn't get stupid).

So, we wandered up to a bottom of a cliff, climbed it, and sat at the top, just talking.

"So, did you save the galaxy?" I asked, referring to his video game.

"Nah, aliens always win. We're all gonna get probed." he said, sitting on a smoother rock and looking out to the sea.

"How unpleasant. Well, we can have fun 'till then." I said, laughing slightly.

"Yeah... shame they're coming for you first..." he said, giving me a fake sympathetic look.

"Really? I thought they'd take you back to the mother ship first."

"Nah, they get the pretty girls first."

Oh.

"You're a strange boy." I told him, grinning. And he grinned back for a moment, before his smile slipped.

"Yeah... but I'm right."

"What? That there's aliens?" I asked, leaning against the rock he was sat on.

"No. That you're pretty." he said, quietly.

I felt my face flush red, and I could see where this was going. Unfortunately.

See, I kind of knew Lee had a thing for me. Terry told me so. But I felt nothing for the guy. He was like an annoying friend that I happened to like, and not resent ever meeting. It was stupid! But I didn't think he'd ever bring it up... this was gonna go badly.

"Well... thanks Lee." I mumbled, trying to be polite, and stop my girlish urges from working. But I did not succeeding since I blushed, he saw it and started to laugh.

"No problem." he said, as he started to play with my hair.

We talked only a little after that, and though I felt slightly awkward about... everything he said, I was flattered and liked the fact he thought I was pretty. Now I just had to wonder what the hell was gonna happen next.

After a while of minimal chat and a thorough de tangling of my hair after Lee had messed about with it, and while I told him to stop apologising, Molly and her 'friend' found us and told us that Cali had found some crabs, so we were eating them for dinner tonight.

We shouted an okay, and said we'd catch up in a bit, I just had to find my towel that I'd left on the beach.

We'd gone down to the beach, and found a corner of my towel sticking out from under a pile of sand, so someone had obviously tried to bury it. I know who it was too...

"Thunder and Storm don't like you do they?" Lee asked, chuckling.

"I guess not." I replied, grumbling slightly.

"Ah well, you could get them back. Go Kendo on them."

"That would be mean."

"But satisfying."

"Agreed."

We both laughed together, and walked back to the mansion.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Dinner was terrible. Not that the crab wasn't cooked, as I did it with Cali and Kanie, and we'd all learned to cook off our parents. Surprisingly, we were the only ones who knew how to turn on a stove.

Pathetic really, what having 'servants' does to you.

Thank god I had my mum and dad who were quite skilled in the kitchen... though dad fails at making cookies. He'd never grasped the concept of how to make them, and always ended up with rubbery cookie dough in his hair... how, I do not know.

But the reason it was terrible was not the quality of the food, but the fact that the food was thrown about in a food fight, where it was me, Cali, Kanie, Molly and our guests against Thunder, Storm, Suki and their guests.

Obviously, the side where almost half the fighters were trained in martial arts and were extremely quick at throwing and dodging won, and the team where everyone kept falling over each other, and thought that hiding behind a turned over table would stop us getting them, lost.

It was cool actually. Molly made quick battle plans, me Cali and Kanie carried out the assaults, and the rest of the guys grabbed as much crab as they could to reuse to get the other team.

Of course, after we'd covered them in crab, we then had to clean up.

Which sucked.

And the smell was terrible. Well, Hitachiin co. Suki and friends all smelled terrible when they passed. It was rather hilarious.

But other than that, everything went swimmingly.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Of course, after being made to cook dinner, clean up the dining room, my friends and the other guests, I was then made to wash the dishes.

So, fun for me.

However, seeing that I was being dragged into everything, Lee offered to help out. Which was nice of him. So here we were, doing the pots, and he turned to me and said:

"Will you go out with me?"

Which of course, made me have a minor internal spaz attack, So I dropped the dish I was holding, but then thankfully caught it again due to my fast reactions.

The whole dropping something, then going ninja and grabbing it again must have looked pretty strange, but the worst thing is, I couldn't think of what to say.

"Mai? … Jeez, I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have asked, it was stupid." he mumbled, going red.

Lee was asking me out? What the frick was Amatiro doing with those voodoo dolls of his?

I should say no. I didn't like him as anything more than a friend, and it wouldn't be fair to either of us if I said yes. I'd be leading him on if I said yes... so, let him down easy...

"Sure." I said, squeakily.

What? I internally face palm, I'm an idiot!

"Really?" he asked, visibly brightening.

And I in my moment of genius just nodded and smiled, because if I'd opened my mouth, gibberish would have come out, I would have gone back and told him the truth which I very much wanted to do, and have said no. I did like him, but not that way.

But I didn't get chance to, because he was already looking like Christmas had come early, and I wasn't about to tell him Santa Clause didn't exist.

"Awesome..." he breathed, stepping closer to me, and pulling me into a hug.

Yeah... awesome...


	23. writing to 20 years ago

HEYY!

You know, since I've written 15 chapters in 2 days, I think I'll double update. 'Cos I'm nice that way. Writers block is gone, and you know, I'm only writing 50 or something chapters for this story, so I'm nearly done!

Thankyou to those that reviewed my last chapter already. Yes, I am being mean to Mai, but I need to hype everything up! Come on people! GET EXCITED! Love Takashi while you can, because he might not be here long.

Oops! Did I type that? Aw, dee-dums.

Well, I might be lying, but to the few who I've spoken to, and the one ho threatened to get Death-notes on me, haha, you know I would. I sooooo would. I'm not afraid of ANYTHING!

... 'cept spiders.

But you can't get spiders to me, for thou shalt never knowest where I liveth.

~still hyper~

ENJOY!

* * *

We were all having a major game of hide and seek. The weather decided it was going to hate us, and it was storming outside, so we'd decided the wisest thing to do was stay in, and wait it out. No-one was too bothered though, because this major game of hide and seek had two sides, and if one team found someone from the other, then they were taken hostage.

I had chosen to hide in my room.

Under my bed.

Which, in most cases is a pretty obvious place to hide, but I chose it because it was so obvious, and people think I'm smarter than that.

I'm really not.

I did, however, have a torch and my diary, but I was short of a pen, and I was scared of getting out of my hiding place because I'd had to pull out the bed storage draw and crawl under before pulling it back in.

Then I heard someone open the door, and jump on the bed.

Two things went through my head. First: I was gonna be a hostage, 'cos a rule had been made where and Morinozukas or Haninozukas present are NOT allowed to use any martial arts, or fight at all to try and escape. We have strength as an advantage. The other admitted that they are weak.

The second thought I had was: 'I wonder if they have a pen?'

Stupid I know.

Then I heard a voice.

"Look, a pen!" It was Cali. "How nice, and oops! I dropped it down the back of the bed, probably in the middle now. Darn my luck."

I did manage to find the pen. In the middle like she said.

"Thank-you Cali."

"No probs. I'm gonna go hide under Suki's bed."

"She's on the other team."

"That's why no-one would think to look for me there."

"... Clever."

"Okay, bye!" she cried, skipping off.

I sighed, then smiled to myself. I had to love my cousin.

Now, I have a pen! So I flipped open my diary and found a clean page.

_'Dear Diary._

_I'm currently on holiday with my friends and some 'guests', one of which I've been asked out by. Lee. Of course, my brain turned to jell-o and any time I wanted to talk, I didn't because my mouth went 'AAARRRGGGHHHH'_

_Well, not literally, but I wanted to scream._

_I don't like him that way diary. Which doesn't help anything because now he thinks we're going out, and I feel like a complete and total bitch. Maybe I'll leave it a week and tell him I'm not feeling it. Maybe that will work._

_Maybe I'm a complete moron, no-one is gonna buy that and not think that I lead them on in the first place and was using them._

_...I'm too stressed to do this. Seriously. I'm worried about mum and dad. Dad especially, and this wasn't going to help anything._

_But, whatever. I'm a big girl, and as screwed up as all this is, I can get it sorted._

_Anyways, got to go... my arms starting to cramp.'_

I put my pen down, and lay my head down on my arm. If no-one found me and Cali, then we'd be here for a while.

I could live with that.

So, you might think 'what the hell will she do for God knows how long? Well, simple. I'll think about the stories mum and dad and all their friends have told me about their lives as hosts in the host club.

Mum said that she came here one, more or less the same thing as we're doing now, but so much went wrong. Haruhi got thrown into the ocean after she'd tried to pull some pervy guys off some other girls, and mum had been smacked into some rocks, and hurt her head.

Tamaki and Haruhi fell out, and wouldn't talk to each other, then mum had a fall out with Kyouya, which as a result brought her and dad closer because he helped cheer her up in a game of tag (because they were _so_ mature back then). It stormed then too, and Haruhi was afraid of thunder (still is) and Tamaki took advantage of this, and gave her earplugs and a blind, so she couldn't see what he was doing. Or so Hikaru and Kaoru tell us.

Tamaki insists that if she couldn't see the shadows and hear the thunder, then she'd be fine. Mum bought it, but not everyone else was so forgiving.

Life sucks, huh?

Mum said she'd had a room all to herself, and had left something there so people would remember her, but all I expect it would have been removed or cleaned up or something by now... surely?

People were running past my door shouting, and apparently, our team had just taken someone else's guest hostage. I hope we were winning.

The torch was lying beside me, shining against the wall so I could see what was ahead of me, 'cos I swear if a spider came out of nowhere, then I'd freak out and probably break the bed trying to escape.

But instead of any spiders, I saw something etched into the skirting board.

'_Saori Yasagawa ~ 2009_' and next to it, a scrap of paper had been stuck on the wall with a piece of chewing gum.

Nice one mum.

So, as it happens, I was in the same room my mum was in. How coincidental.

Naturally, I opened the note.

'_To whoever is reading this:_

_First of all, you're kind of a freak for crawling under the bed, aren't you? But on the other hand, so am I, so welcome to the club!_

_I put this here in hopes someone would find it, but I also hope you're a girl. Because I'd only want a girl to know about my problems. It's like confiding in someone you'll never know, kind of cool. Like an agony aunt, but this is perhaps less fucked up._

_Basically, I like two guys. One is called Takashi, one is Kyouya. I don't know why I feel this, and honestly I shouldn't. Two guys at one time? Call me a slut, I don't mind._

_Takashi is really sweet, and honest, and kind, and really handsome. He's tall, and silent, and strong, and a general all round perfect man. Except his eye sight, it's crap. He has to wear contacts to help, 'cos his glasses look nerdy 8) He makes me feel good about me, and his smile makes my day brighter._

_Kyouya is an ass most of the time, but he can also be really kind, and sweet, and he's also handsome, and taller than me (only by a bit). He strives for the best, so I of course am rather flattered that he took such a liking to me. We tend to love to hate each other most of the time, but we are really good friends, and I don't think being in Japan would be the same without him. He makes me feel really... special. Special seems like a good word now to express the fact that he makes me flush, and butterflies start and everything._

_So... what would you do? You like both guys, and one treats you like a proper lady as well as being able to have a laugh and cheers you up most of the time. The other treats you like a proper lady, you can have a laugh, but he knows how to push your buttons and wind you up, but can then cheer you up... as long as the other hasn't already done so..._

_It sounds stupid, yes? You're thinking 'go for a threesome!' or something like that... well, it's just too complicated to suggest such things. How dare you! Lol~_

_Write back, I might get to read it someday :)'_

I smiled slightly. Now I know why mum found Japan so difficult at first, boy trouble, haha!

So, I pulled out a piece of paper from my notebook/diary, and started to write back.

'_To Saori._

_Wow, boy troubles? Suckish. I have a boy issue too. A guy called Lee likes me, but I don't like him back, and when he asked me to go out with him, I said yes because my brain turned to mush and my mouth decided to spew out all sorts of shit. So now I am his girlfriend in a sense, but I don't want to be._

_But as for you... I think Takashi sounds like the better one, because he doesn't piss you off... not as much as Kyouya seems to. And he seems like a really good guy and stuff, and as long as he treats you right, then full steam ahead!_

_Kyouya will find someone else, he seems cool enough, and she'll be cool too. She'd have to be if he's such an ass._

_But I wouldn't worry about life, I'm not. Things happen and whatever the result, it all works out._

_Pretty profound for a fifteen year old huh?_

_Hope you liked this, and see you soon_

_Love, from Mai :)_'

Satisfied, I left the paper on the floor under the first, and then lay my head down, turning my torch off, and waited for someone to find me... this was starting to get uncomfortable.


	24. found, at last

Hey guys :) I'm a happy bunny (usa-chan) today.

I've been rather oddly cheerful. Haven't I?

I finished my Nekozawa one shot, called 'A day to Remember' which is slightly funny, and I'm very happy with it, and it features Saori (because wherever I go, she goes) and it's awesome! BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Anyways, please check it out, thanks all, and as always (though it is actually really well and truely annoying me) I'll say-

ENJOY!

* * *

Apparently, the floor wasn't as uncomfortable as I'd first anticipated, because I'd fallen asleep. God knew what time it was, or where the game was at (if people were still playing), or if people were still looking for me, otherwise, they've forgotten about me.

Which would suck.

But of course, someone had to care...

"Mai?"

Strangely enough, it was a deeper voice that called out for me, but I recognized it.

"Mai?" the person called again, knocking on my door and letting themselves in. "You in here?"

Shit...

It was Kyouya.

They'd called Kyouya.

"I'm under here." I called back, because if I stayed quiet, his personal police would be called in to rip everything to shreds to find me.

"... I'm not going to ask." he said, pulling out one of the drawers so I could crawl out.

"Thanks, and why'd they call you?" I asked, standing with some difficulty and dusting myself off.

"Because, Mai, they've been looking for you for twelve hours. They probably wouldn't have found Cali if Suki hadn't jumped on the bed and broken it."

"I shouldn't have fallen asleep..." I grumbled, stretching, then pushing the drawer back in.

"Probably not. But Cali said you were in here, so I came looking."

"You came here because I went missing?"

"Of course... you're all staying in my holiday home, I have a responsibility over you guys."

"That the only reason you came?" I asked, sitting on the bed, and waiting for Kyouya to answer when he sat next to me.

"Your dad wanted to..." he said quietly after a minute, as if he knew it was a tender subject, but wasn't sure if I knew about the whole thing or not "But your mum needed him at home to... take care of business."

"Hmm..." I mumbled, pressing my fingers together until the tips went white. "Kyouya, is there something wrong with my parents?" I asked, playing the dummy.

"Such as?" he asked me, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Anything... anything to do with Aiiku. My dad had a letter, but he said it was nothing... some research he was doing for you."

"Ah... he told you that?" he asked, sounding skeptical, but shook his head slightly as if shaking it off.

"He's ill, isn't he? My dad."

"What makes you think that?"

"He said that to you, he said he's got cancer." I said, rather bluntly. Kyouya just gaped at me, shock displayed on his face for all the world to see, but he shook himself and closed his mouth.

"How... how do you know?" he asked, facing me fully now, staring at me, trying to read me like I was a book.

"I snook into the hospital and overheard you guys talking."

"...Oh." He muttered, then nudged his glasses up. "Well, that's one way of finding out."

"I've been suspicious for a while." I said, feeling tears sting my eyes once again and my throat began to close up. "Since mum got mad at you at your house. I knew they were... keeping a secret, and I-I had to know." I said, barely getting out the last bit in a choked whisper.

"Oh, no, don't cry." he said, suddenly sounding panicked, which was a completely new thing from Kyouya... he mustn't like tears. He also put his arms around me, hugging me close to comfort me. It was so... beyond weird, but I liked it. It felt happier that I could tell someone (other than my friends) who already knew about the whole shebang. Problem is, I couldn't tell my parents, 'cos I'd be in trouble for sneaking about...

Forget the fact that Kyouya was probably going to tell them anyways.

But putting that aside, it just felt good that I had someone to vent to, regerdless of the fact that it was probably only for a minute or so.

"Mai, don't cry..." he whispered, rubbing my back.

"I... I'm not." I muttered, quite clearly lying as tears were streaming down my face.

"No, of course not... you're just like your mum. She hated crying too."

"Still does to be honest."

"Guessed so. But she's still cool."

"...How long did you like her?" I asked, mums letter popping into my mind.

"How long did I like Saori? High school and some time after." he said, very honestly. "Lisa knew that... and she understood, and she still understands that I have a soft spot for Saori."

"Do you hate my dad?" I asked.

"No, but I used to." he said, still honest, with a hint of a chuckle. "We're actually quite good friends now you know."

"That's good." I said, pulling away from Kyouya to have a stretch, and a yawn, wiping the wet from my face,

"So, why we're on the 'spill your life secrets' conversation, anything else you want to say?" he asked, with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

"Why?"

"Because there's a boy here raving about you... in a good way."

"Lee?"

"I think that was his name." he chuckled again, but he sounded somewhat happier.

So, I explained to him the whole sordid situation, and the fact that Lee likes me, but I hardly reciprocate the feelings.

"Well, you've landed yourself in it now."

"What? Thats all your saying?" I asked, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah. Just and get yourself out of whatever your in as fast as you can."


	25. coming clean to the parents

Omg, double update again!

I'm actualy nearly done writing this story now. I think I'm only gonna hit 40+ chapters, then I'm gonna end it. But on the plus side, I'll be able to update every day then, get it out of the way, then do whatever else takes my fancy.

I'm quite tired now. So night.

And enjoy :D

* * *

Kyouya took me back to the others, who for the most part glomped me, shouted at me and asked how I got so good at hiding.

He also told us that we should probably go home, because the storm was going to get worse, and we should get to our families, and get ready for school tomorrow. To which we all moaned, but he laughed and said that technically he was in charge of the house, and we would have to do as we were told.

Plus, he was Kyouya. We couldn't argue, and to be fair, he scared the people who weren't used to him.

So we all piled back into limos, and we were on the way home, but of course, because of Lee's stupidly big mouth, everyone knew I had agreed to go out with him.

And they were now going to pester me about it.

"Mai, are you really with him?" Cali asked, practically bouncing on my lap.

"Yes." I mumbled, shoving her off and back onto her seat in front of me.

At this point, Suki, Thunder and Storm were in fits of laughter, and I was feeling in a particularly bad mood, so I hit the person closest to me, who was in fact both of the Hitachiins, because I had one on either side of me.

"Ow!" they shouted, but shut up because I could snap their necks easily, and I was in the kind of neck-snapping mood.

"Why on earth did you agree to that? Do you like him or something?" asked Molly, and even she was unable to hide her smirk behind a mask or fake professionalism.

"No, I see him as more of a brother, but I hated seeing him down, so I said yes without thinking." I moaned, having a miniature spazz.

"Poor you... you could break things off though, he's just a guy." Sauki said, picking something out of her teeth.

"Hey! Guys have feelings too." Kanie injected indignantly, making Suki snort.

"Only the gay ones."

So then Thunder and Storm started laughing.

"Well, that explains so much about us, cuz." laughed Thunder.

"I know! How queer." Storm added, cracking up at his own play on words.

"You two _are _queer." mumbled Suki, finally getting whatever she was trying to get out of her teeth, only to consider it with mild interest and pop it back in her mouth.

Ew?

"I don't know what to do." I said, bluntly.

"Dump him." chimed the cousins, so I glared at them again.

"I'll bare it for a week or something, 'cos you never know, it might be okay."

"Yeah, whatever Mai."

I grumbled to myself, and stared out of the window, because I had a stupid, terrible, sinking feeling in my stomach.

-x-x-x-x-x-

When I got home, I was practically glomped by my mum, which was a new one...

"I missed you! Don't leave me with the boys again." she cried, shouting right down my ear. Hatori ran up, jumped, and latched himself onto mums back, hugging my head. Then dad appeared from around the corner, and he wrapped his arms around the lot of us and started to laugh.

"Since when were we all into group hugs?" he asked.

"Since my baby was away for the weekend and all you two did was bully me." mum said, pouting.

"Mum, you could ground Hatori, and... you know, use certain things to get back at dad." I pointed out, smirking when Hati backed off.

"At risk of being grounded, I'm going to send myself to my room." he said, jumping down from mums back and running off.

"And what exactly could I use to get back at your dad?"

"Your womanly attributes." I said, laughing, slipping away, and running up to my room to dump my bag. I was half way up the stairs when I heard dad shout after me.

"Mai, when you're done, can you come down to my office? I need to tell you something."

"Oh, okay."

So, I ran to my room, dumped my stuff, then ran down again to see what dad wanted.

But mum and dad were both in his office, talking quietly when I walked in.

"Mai, sit down." dad said gently, motioning to another seat, so, wearily, I sat down, crossed my legs, and clasped my hands.

"Mai, Kyouya phoned us not long ago, and said you got lost this weekend." Mum said, looking at me.

"Oh, yeah, we were playing hide and seek and no-one found me."

"He also said that when he found you, you got upset."

"Oh?" I said, trying to sound cool but in fact, my brain was screaming inside me to run and keep running. "What else did he say?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Nothing much, just that we should talk to you about it..." mum said, and I could tell now that she seemed skeptical, because her eyes had narrowed into green slits.

Maybe, it was time to just come clean, and they'd have no choice to do the same.

"Well... I know what you two have been keeping secret." I muttered, glancing up into their obviously shocked faces.

"H-how?" dad choked, sinking back into his chair.

So, I explained. From the beginning. The argument I overheard them having with Kyouya, the day dad came in in a bad mood, and got upset with mum over some 'consultation'. When mum got me up to find his briefcase, and the paper for Aiiku hospital fell out, so I went there with Suki.

I told them that I hid in the closet and heard dad say that he had cancer, and that he wanted to tell me and Hatori, but mum didn't. I tried keeping it secret from them, but it upset me the fact that my dad could be dying, and that we could have only found out when he was on his deathbed in some hospital.

I told them that Kyouya had been there and I told him, and all he could do was hug me while I cried about it.

I told them that it was wrong to have kept this from me... and mum should know what it felt like to be lied to, because her mum did that when her dad died.

I ended up in tears, mum ended up in tears, and dad seemed to be at a loss to do with himself.

When mum gained control over her tears, dad seemed to pull himself together and scooped me up from my chair and sat me on his lap. He hugged me tight, but didn't say a thing, so I took this opportunity to speak again.

"I'm sorry for sneaking about like I did..." I mumbled, turning my face into dad chest to wipe my tears on his shirt.

"I'm sorry... for not telling you sooner. For... for not being honest." Dad mumbled.

Mum was quiet. She was staring at me, and not saying a word. But you could tell she was thinking hard.

"Saori, are you okay?" dad asked, reaching out to her and taking hold of her hand.

"Yeah..." she whispered. Then cleared her throat a little. "I never thought what would happen if you found out Mai... I hoped you wouldn't. But... you're right."

"'Bout what?" I asked.

"My mum lied to me when my dad died. She said he was on a trip. He was fine. He was getting better. I didn't realize until my mum took me to the funeral and yelled at me that my dad was gone forever."

A tear slipped down her face, so dad pulled her close to him and wrapped his arm around her.

We were all quiet for a while, but I had to wonder...

What now?


	26. jealous much?

I went into Manchester today, and I got a new bag! Tis rather awesome, and I went into a shop called Tokyo & Poco 15, because they sell LOADS of anime stuff, but they had very little Ouran, so I went on a sulk, and the shop owner saw, and he asked what was up, and I was like 'no Ouran stuff man!' and then he pulled down a little poster, with all the Ouran dudes on it, and gave it me! I was like, 'Awww, thanks!'

So, I'm happy! YAY! Sooo... yeah.

Enjoy!

* * *

Apparently, now mum and dad were even jumpier.

I did accept the fact that this was one of those bad things that happened to good people, and that it was no-ones fault, and all we could do was hope for the best and that the treatment dad was receiving works.

Other than that I was trying to keep things normal. It only took a week for mum and dad to catch on and start acting the same.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Things at school, however, were far from normal.

Everyone knew about me and Lee 'going out'. No-one knew I actually didn't like Lee except from all my fellow hosts, and Amatiro, who I was now hiding in the black magic clubroom with.

"Just tell him you've had enough." he said, flicking some kind of metal in the fireplace that made the flames flicker purple.

"I don't wanna upset the guy..." I muttered, throwing some other metals into the fire so it went blue.

"He's not as nice as everyone thinks he is." Amatiro said, throwing some more purple stuff into the fire.

"Really? Oh, and where'd you get this stuff?" I asked, picking up some more stuff that turned it all pink when I threw it all in.

"Nah... his last girlfriend was a girl in the dark magic club. She left after he started to bully her."

"He wouldn't do that." I said, looking at him.

"Seriously, that's what she said."

"Well... I dunno."

"I'm not worried about you though." he said, sinking back into his seat.

"Why?"

"You could beat him to a pulp." he said, chuckling darkly.

"You actually want me to, don't you?"

"I never said that... it was just an implication."

I smiled to myself, and looking into the fire, which was now pink and purple. Amatiro obviously despised Lee.

"I got the dust from my dad. Dunno where he got it."

"You gotta find out."

"I will."

-x-x-x-x-x-

I'd left Amatiro in the dark, after a short discussion about the welfare of my dad, and how we were all coping with it. He'd even given me a hug, which was nice.

But then I'd gone to the library to find my 'boyfriend' and see what I would do to tell him I didn't like him like he liked me.

But upon arrival and when he saw me, he didn't look too pleased.

"Where have you been?" he grumbled, crossing his arms and swinging back in his seat.

"Um... with Amatiro Nekozawa."

He just scowled.

"Do you like him more than me? Is that it?"

"Uh... what?" I asked him, feeling like the conversation I was going to have with him was turning into my interrogation.

"Look... nothing." he said, wiping the frown from his face to replace it with a happier smile.

"Seriously?"

"Look... It's just because you're beautiful, and I'm so lucky to be with you, even though you could be with any guy, you said yes to me."

"Yeah..." I said, forcing a small smile, trying not to squirm as he put his arm around me.

"I'm a lucky guy, huh?"

"Yeah, you sure are." I said, pretending to laugh, but this was feeling increasingly awkward, except I seemed to be the only one feeling like that, because Lee was still smiling.

"Anyways, see you later." he said, kissing my head, then sauntering off.

I just had this awful sinking feeling as I wiped my hand across my head, to rid the nasty feeling he left, and a small voice in the back of my head was screaming 'WARNING!'.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"So, he's all weird with you?" asked Suki, picking up a tulip and sliding it into the vase we were trying to do a flower arrangement in for an art project.

"Yeah. I said I was hanging with Amatiro, and he got all possessive."

"Well... you are pretty, and a lot of guys could imagine themselves doing you."

"Thanks."

"No problem... but I get why he might be jealous."

"Least someone does." I grumbled, pulling out the tulip that Suki had stuck in roughly, and replacing it with a pink rose.

"I think you should just bear it, most guys would be like that." she said, glaring at the rose, but she shrugged.

"My dad isn't like that with my mum... guys flirt with her all the time, and he just laughs at them."

"Well, they've been married for ages, he's probably used to it. Besides, have you seen you mum and dad? They're totally in love with each other."

"True."

"Just deal with it hun, nothing much you can do."

"I guess so..."


	27. I've had enough

Short chapter, sorry about that everyone. Just a filler, but the next one is slightly longer.

I updated, because I am like... one chapter from finishing. Just one.

And I'll tell you now, you're all gonna hate me. But ah well, I am actually planning on making another one... again :/ But Saori's P.O.V. again, 'cos I happen to love her.

Anyways, hope you like!

* * *

I was trying to deal with it, really I was.

But Lee was getting so possessive over me, it was unreal.

He hated me hanging around with Amatiro, he seriously did. He also hated me hanging around with Kanie, Socka (Thunder) and Riki (Storm) but he refused to call them by their weather related nick names. He didn't care if there were my cousins (blood or not), he just didn't like other guys hanging around with me.

He'd even gotten into the habit of picking me up from my house, taking me to school, and then taking me home again. Reason being, I'd tend to bitch about him to Suki, Molly and Cali, and when he found out, he went mad, saying I was being horrible to him, and I felt guilty.

And every time I tried to tell him it wasn't working, he'd get upset and say he knew he wasn't good enough, and that he'd set himself up for heartbreak, because I was gonna go off with some other guy.

And though it annoyed me, his little act got to me, and I felt sorry for the guy.

Until...

"Mai."

"What Lee?"

"I don't want you doing host club any more."

I sat up straight from the table I was sat at, in the back corner of the library where Lee made me sit away from other people.

"What?"

"I don't want you being near other guys."

"You can't do that. I've put up with you for so long, but this is pushing it." I snapped, standing up, but Lee was quick too, and he had a hand on my shoulder, keeping me in place.

"You're leaving?" he asked, his eyes boring into mine.

"Yes. It's over Lee. I'm not putting up with your shit any more." I hissed back, slapping his hand away then trying to walk away, but stopped, shocked, when his arm wrapped around my body and he cupped my breast.

"I don't think so Mai. You'll regret it when I tell everyone your secret." he hissed, his breath right on my ear and his free hand twisting into my hair.

I scowled, threw him off by turning sharply, and punched him square in the face.

"You don't know any of my secrets Lee... and blackmail won't work on me. Piss off before I break your neck."

He stood slowly, wiping the blood that was streaming from his nose, and glared at me.

"You'll regret that you fucking bitch."

He then ran off... leaving me alone.

I'd just been blackmailed, molested, and threatened... so I did what any girl my age would do.

I curled up in a corner next to a bookcase, and cried.


	28. bad news

Heyyy!

Just thought I'd update to let you know I've finished this sequal, so now I'm doing the Kyouya x Saori fic I promised you. So, a special gift to you'z, and I can promise that you get an update every day until I have chapter 42 up, and then... I'm done...

Again.

How mean, I have to finish another story, but on the plus side, I am happy, because... I've finished the story.

Now I can focus on my other projects.

Kyouya x Saori (as previously mentioned), one called Celebration, and one that is gonna be super secret, but Ima not tell you until the other 2 are done!

And, as always, hope you like!

Review please :3

* * *

"Mai?"

I ignored the voice, and curled tighter, until I felt someones hands cupping my face and bringing it up to theirs.

"Mai, what... what happened?"

It was Amatiro. He gently wiped my tears away, brushed my hair out of my eyes, and sat next to me, pulling me into his side.

I curled up against him, glad for a friendly person, and told him the whole story through my tears, and he listened carefully. When I told him the part about him groping e and threatening me, he swore under his breath, then told me to stand up and we'd find the others.

It didn't take long, as Molly was in the library doing some random research, and Suki was playing hide and seek with the cousins and the twins. The only reason they come to this library is to mess about (or in Molly's case, to study at a higher level, because the middle schools library didn't have the extent of books that we did).

Molly was then, of course, the first person to notice me, and therefore the first to hear the story, and go on a rampage.

"That evil conniving bastard! How _dare_ he say that to you? How dare he do that to you! I'm gonna get the police squad in, they'll blow his tiny little nuts off and-"

"Molly, I don't think that would be the bast idea." Amatiro interjected, taking the mobile from the angry girl and shutting it slowly... almost reluctantly.

"Well, what else should we do? Curse him?" she spat, sarcastically.

"Don't get me started. All I'm saying is we should see what he does and then act upon that. There's one of him, and eight of us. If he tries anything, we have three martial artists, three psychopaths, a girl with a private police force... and me."

"The guy with the curse dolls." Molly said, but she smiled slightly.

Of course, I had to go through the conversation a few more times because the other wandered over. And I then had to tell them not to go on a rampage, and surprisingly, the Hitachiins were hardest to stop, pulling so hard we were dragged across half the library before they let up.

"He's a fucking git!" they both yelled, looking extremely angry.

"So? In case you didn't notice, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

"Yeah, well..." Storm dithered, trying to think of the right words to express his anger.

"Fuck you." Finished Thunder, sulking... but successfully conveying his and his cousins emotions.

"Whatever... just chill out, and suck it up. No big deal right?"

-x-x-x-x-x-

Big deal, right?

I'd found a note in my locker. From Lee.

Not a nice one.

'_Mai. You'll regret what you did... and don't worry, word will get around about everything you've done and hidden from the school_.'

So, of course I was thinking what the fuck could Lee be doing now, and when can I kill him before he ruins my life any more than the pile of shit it is now?

But, I couldn't.

Every time I saw him, he was with a group of guys, who all looked at me and started to smirk and snicker. I had no idea why though.

It was only when girls were pointing at me and whispering in class that I got pissed off.

"Miss, please can I be excused to the bathroom?" I asked, gritting my teeth as some snotty plastic girls made a comment on me being a slut.

She nodded mutely and went back to teaching computer skills to the rest of the class while I stormed out.

This was stupid. How the hell was I a slut?

I want to growl at something, or someone... you know, as a release of whatever pent up frustration I have.

But that would be classes as weird.

I went into the bathroom, and I saw about three girls bunking off class, nattering to each other. They each had dyed their hair pink, and were wearing jeans and tee's with whatever rude slogan on them. Obviously part of a rebellion against education and school rules.

One of them noticed me, and smiled widely.

"Oh hey! Look who's joined us!" laughed one of the girls, flicking her cigarette stub into a toilet.

"I'm just getting away from bitches back there." I mumbled, sitting on the counter top where all the sink basins were.

"I know the feeling babe, people called me a slut at first too... but you know karate or something, just beat them up." laughed another girl. "I'm Ebony by the way."

"Hi... but why are people calling me a slut?"

"Um... because after a week or something you let that Lee dude bed you." Ebony told me, rolling her eyes as the equivalent of saying 'duh'.

And though now I knew what he meant by telling everyone about my secret, and I wanted to go kill him, I decided to keep my cool... as best I could.

"Well, that's news to me." I hissed, gripping onto the nearest tap and squeezing it.

"Seriously, don't play dumb... so, how was your first time?" asked one of Ebony's friends.

"I'm not playing dumb. He sent me a note telling me he was basically going to spread shit 'cos I wouldn't let him control my life or grope me." I said, staring at the girls hard.

Ebony sat there with her mouth open, shocked.

"No way man... show me."

So I did. I gave her the note, then to prove I wasn't taking the piss, I wrote the exact same thing to show it wasn't my handwriting.

"Damn... he's a bit of a dick then, isn't he?" she asked, looking at me.

"You think? God knows what he's gonna say next..."

"Hunny, I think you need to strangle him." she said, patting me sympathetically on the back before whipping out her packet of cigs, and offering me one, to which I declined.

"I might just do..." I mumbled, getting up, waving goodbye, and heading off to the class from hell.

Biology.


	29. breaking down

Hey... sad chapter?

Can I ask a question? Would you guys be more upset if Saori died, or if Takashi died? Because JustAnEcho brought it up, and I was wondering :)

Thanks!

* * *

Of course, class was a shambles. And now I was whining to Suki about it over the phone.

"Yeah, so Lee was a complete dick in biology today. I dumped him because he tried to get in my pants, and now he's telling everyone he has regardless." I moaned, flopping down on my bed.

"Kung Fu whoop his ass, and then tell people that you're still a prude little virgin."

"I don't do Kung Fu..." I muttered.

"Well, Tai-chi, karate, Ty Phoo, whatever it is..."

"Kendo." I muttered, neglecting to tell her that Ty Phoo was a kind of tea bag.

"That's a stupid name for martial arts. A ninja would never say 'Ima kendo your ass', it sounds like some sadistic form of rape."

I smiled slightly at my friends stupidity.

"Ninjas would use several forms of martial arts, kendo included. Plus, they don't talk... they'd just rape you anyways. Silent but deadly."

"Like a fart." she said, then burst out giggling.

I sighed, realizing that we had gone completely off track.

"We were talking about Lee." I reminded.

"Oh yeah... set papa Morinozuka on him or something."

I felt my heart pang at the mention of my dad, and I sighed heavily. He'd been steadily looking worse the past few weeks. It was beyond stupid what was happening.

He was swearing some days, completely acting out of character. Mum had obviously had to tell Hatori what was happening, so he'd gone all seclusive, and refused to talk to either mum or dad... only me.

Other days, he'd just... forget. He'd stay in the conservatory these days, looking up to the sky. He wouldn't talk much. I saw... a day or two ago? He was in there, and mum went in, and she started talking to him, and he just stared at her, and asked her who she was.

Mum started crying, and then he seemed to shake the feeling of amnesia, just for a second to hug her, then he let go and sat down again, staring out as if nothing had happened.

But he'd be dad most days... just sick.

"Dad's not well." I said, after a long pause.

"Give him chicken soup and tell him to buck up."

"Okay, fine. Look, I'm gonna jet."

"Okay! Talk soon."

I hung up and threw my mobile on my pillow, and lay down. I wasn't sure what kind of day dad was having, but I knew something he'd like anyways.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Dad, I made you some Sanma fish."

I'd been in the kitchen for a while, making one of my dads favourite dishes, and now I'd taken it to him in the conservatory where he was sat... again.

It did upset me... seeing him like this. He was fine not long ago, and if you asked me, it seemed like his condition was deteriorating faster than I had expected it to... but I never said anything, through fear of jinxing it.

He had huge bags under his eyes, his skin was a pasty grey, and he looked depressed.

He turned to look at me, and smiled... but it was half hearted, and it didn't reach his eyes.

"Thanks Mai."

I set the fish down on the table near his seat on the couch, and he regarded it with mild interest before looking back to the garden.

"Looks nice." he mumbled.

And me, not being sure weather he meant the fish or the garden, just nodded and sat next to him. We were both quiet for a while, before dad sighed deeply and turned to me, enveloping me in a hug that was so warm and comforting... but also sad.

"I love you." he said, resting his chin on my head. This was getting rarer. Hugs, affection, father-daughter moments.

"Love you too dad."

"I'm really ill Mai." he chocked out, voice starting to break.

"I... I know dad. But you're getting better."

"I don't think so." he muttered, making my stomach clench and my heart drop about a million miles. I pulled away and looked him in the eye... sad pools of grey that didn't sparkle like they used to.

"But you said... you told mum.." I choked, feeling my eyes sting.

"I lied." he said, shrugging, but his eyes were glazed with tears. "I was never getting better... Can you keep a secret?"

"..Sure..."

"I have a brain tumour. They can't get it out without messing some stuff up in there, and I could be worse than I have been. I know I forget things some days... I don't want to. Mai, it's killing me more to know that I can't remember what my kids names are half the time... I write them on the back of my hand."

My heart started beating rapidly, and I was shaking my head.

I didn't want to hear this.

"Mai?"

"Dad... shut up. I don't wanna know, shut up."

I got up, leaving him with the fish, and ran off to my room. I'd just locked the door when I heard dads footsteps coming down the hall, and then he knocked at my door.

"Mai, please... open up."

"No! I don't wanna hear about it." I said, shoving my face into my pillow. "You lied to us... to mum!"

"Let me in." he said firmly, but not as if he actually expected me to open.

But I did. We both stood there at the door, staring at each other, and dad took a deep breath before starting to talk.

"I've loved your mum since the get go. Since day one when I first saw her. She was beautiful, and smart, and funny and had the biggest attitude ever. She was amazing, and still is... I was eighteen then, and I'm thirty-eight now.

I've always tried to do good by her, and I do my damn best to make sure she's happy... I don't want to be a burden, I don't want to upset her. And telling her I'm gonna die? It would... it would..."

"Break her heart." I whispered, finishing his sentence.

"Basically..." he whispered "And I can't do that."

And he started crying. He broke down and started crying, crumping to the floor... and all I could do was hug him and cry with him.


	30. telling friends

I'm just throwing them out now, I can't do one a day, I'm not physically able to wait.

But hey, thanks for the reviews so far, for those who review.

This is, again, rather sad. I went all out depressive. Anywhooooooo-

I'm writing my Saori x Kyouya fic, called 'What if?', but I'll only be posting when I've put all of this up. So, you know, Es la vida..

Anyways, yea.

* * *

"I'm going to fucking kill him." hissed Molly, glaring over to where Lee was stood in the courtyard with his friends, and they all kept shooting glances over to me and laughing. We were sat at a picnic table, all talking between ourselves.

"Ignore him. I am."

"But he keeps spreading rumours about you!" cried Suki, flailing her arms about.

"So? I know the truth, so it doesn't matter... Amatiro, put that away!" I yelled, stopping him from sticking a pin into a doll.

"But Mai..." he whined.

"No! I'm fed up of this! If I can deal with it, then you guys should be able to!"

"Jeez Mai, what's got you so pissy?" Storm grumbled, doodling in a notepad of some outfit he wanted to make.

"Just... stuff." I grumbled, picking my bag up and walking off.

Cali and Molly were the first people to follow me.

"Mai, has something happened?" asked Molly.

"To your dad?" Cali asked, uncertainly.

"No... he's just ill, and he keeps breaking down, and he loses it sometimes, and he forgets us sometimes, and he's... depressed."

They were both silent.

I didn't blame them.

"I gotta go to class. See you guys later."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Biology. Again.

Why did I have to have this lesson four times a week? And this one was double period.

How crap?

"Hey Mai... hows it going?" asked Lee, leaning over my table and smirking in my face.

"I'm fine Lee, now go away."

"You know... I could tell everyone I made up all that stuff... if you did something for me."

"Which would be?" I hissed, knowing full well where he was going.

"Well, I just need a bit of TLC." he chuckled.

"Fuck off." I growled, cracking my knuckles.

"Fine... but don't expect me to go easier on you."

"Just. Fuck. Off."

"Alrighty then."

He then stood and wandered off, sitting with his friends and whispering almost right away about me, I guess.

But whatever.

I had bigger things to deal with.

I was scared of losing my dad. I was even more scared of the fact that if he did... go... then I would have to try and be the strong one, because mum would just crumble and Hatori was too young to do much else.

I understand why dad doesn't want to tell mum the full extent of what he has, because if he died, then part of her would too... but she has every right to know. And I thought Kyouya would tell her, even if dad wouldn't, because if he really liked her as much as everyone let on, then he wouldn't want to see her as broken as this would make her.

And then there was the whole to do he told me about last night, about the fact that if he did have this treatment, then there was only a small chance that he would recover fully and still be him. He could either become brain damaged, and he said he didn't want to be a burden... or he could forget everything. Like amnesia. Like he had sometimes when he had bad days. And he said he would rather just die than forget us all, and all the memories we had together.

And the fact he'd rather die than spend the rest of his life with us, even if he was a changed person, upset me.

Or.. you know... he might just die. With or without the treatment.

Of course, I wanted him to tell mum. I didn't want to keep this huge secret to myself. I didn't want to bare this on my own.

Maybe I could tell him that he ought to tell mum.

"Hey Mai! You're just a little slut aren't you?" yelled one of Lee's 'friends'.

"Why? What have I done now?" I asked, glaring.

"You did that Nekozawa freak in the library, just after dumping Lee." he said. "That's just wrong."

"Whatever." I mumbled, turning away from them and looking out the window.

This was the newest rumour. I'd done Amatiro.

Now everyone would pick on him too, and he didn't deserve that.

I was going to have to sort all this shit out. Soon.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Mai, I just heard. When did we have sex?" Amatiro asked, unlocking the door to the black magic club room.

"In the library last week, remember? I get around."

"Yeah... you must have been pretty shit if I did so well making myself forget it."

"Or you were shit. Either way, I didn't know we did."

"Hmm... there's another thing I want to ask you about."

"Which would be?" I asked, following him down the stairs into the dark room, but I was so used to being here now, that my eyes adjusted quite quickly. Amatiro just went about as normal, because even in the dark, he had this room memorized, and knew where everything was.

"Well..." he started, striking a match and lighting a few candled, then a piece of paper before throwing that on the fire, lighting it with such skill I had to wonder how many times he did this. "There's something on your mind, isn't there?"

He was up close to me now, and I couldn't do anything but shrug. I didn't want everyone knowing my dad was dying. Quite literally if he wasn't receiving the treatment he should.

"Mai..." he said, gently "You can talk to me... you always can."

Next thing I knew, I'd hurled myself into his arms, and was crying. I blubbered as I told him all about my dad, all my worries about him, and about how Lee was pissing me off, and was wrecking my life. I told him that I just needed someone to talk to whenever I needed them, who could just let me cry and not tell anyone, because I knew Molly would tell her parents, who'd then tell mine, and Cali would tell Kanie at least.

He sat me in his lap, and held me as I cried out all the hurt I'd kept in since I first found out that dad had cancer, that I didn't get out when I finally told mum and dad that I knew. I cried, and yelled, and screamed, and he just held me close, stroked my hair, told me he was there and that no matter what happened, he'd help me.

No matter what.


	31. the end?

Um... don't hate me?

-Runs to hide-

* * *

I got home late that night, and the first thing I did was find my mum and give her the biggest hug I could. I'd never been as close to my mum as I had been to my dad, but I loved her just as much.

She just smiled back and asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner that night, so I said Sanma fish. And she smiled and said okay.

I then went up to my room to dump my bag, and on the way back down the corridor to the staircase, I saw Hatori, in his room (the door was wide open) curled up on his bed.

So I walked in.

"What's up man?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Apart from the fact that my dad's got cancer... nothing."

"Oh... sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yeah... but can I tell you something Mai?"

"Sure."

He took a breath, then before he said a word, he leaped across the room and shut the door, then came and sat on my lap. He'd curled up, and said very quietly:

"I think he's iller than he says he is."

I was quiet too... because he was right. Hatori might only be nine years old, but he was very intuitive. If he could tell, then what did mum already suspect? I mean, a normal cancer patient doesn't start losing it, or having days when they're different people all together... do they?

From what I know, if they have chemotherapy, their hair will fall out, they will become tired, and they get ill.

But swearing and acute amnesia?

I didn't think so.

"Maybe... but you know people just get sick when they have cancer." I said.

"Yeah... but I don't think it's just cancer."

"Aw... come on mate, cheer up." I mumbled, stroking back his hair and giving him a peck on the head.

"Hmm... okay." he said, hugging me and then getting off me, to walk over to his play station whatever number it was, switching it on and playing some game.

Obviously, any sentimental moment we were having is now over.

So I went downstairs.

The smell of fish was coming from the kitchen, but I had other things on my mind.

I had to tell dad that he should tell mum the truth. She deserved it, she'd stood by him this whole time, and she expected her husband to be making a recovery.

I got to the conservatory, and took a deep breath, telling myself to relax... he's only my dad, he'll understand.

I crept into the conservatory, but before I could get a word out, I heard dad cry out, and give a long, low moan of pain.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion, as I ran in, but felt like I was still tip toeing. I couldn't cover the last two meters fast enough.

Dad was sat rigid on the edge of his seat, holding his head in his hands... he was rocking back and forth, cussing and whimpering in pain.

There was blood, leaking out of his ear...

"Dad!" I tried to shout, but it barely came out as a choked whisper.

But he looked up anyways, his eyes blood red and darting about a bit, before focusing on me. He mouthed my name, then his eyes rolled up into his head and he keeled over...


	32. if it's not said, it's not true

Again... don't hate me.

-Goes back to hiding place-

I'm sorry, but on the plus, side, ten more chapters.

* * *

Ever sat in a hospital waiting room, knowing that just beyond the doors someone you know and love, who is such a big part of your life... of you... could be about to take their last breath, and leave you forever?

Maybe, possibly... definitely for some.

I never knew how hard it could be. Everyone says it's hard to lose those you love, those that you're closest to, but they never say how hard.

I'm sat in the corner of the waiting room, observing. Can't do much else to be honest. Hatori is asleep with his head in Molly's lap. Mum is curled into Lisa, face tear stained, eyes bloodshot, and every now and then she'd sniffle. But it's not as bad as a bit ago, when she was crying. She said it wasn't fair... why should it be dad and not her?

I understand why she's sad too... she's lost her dad, her brother and my uncle Jamie (who I never met, as he lived in England, while I was in Japan; then he got killed in some war in the middle east at eighteen) and now... dad could be dying in there.

That was before Hatori arrived, because then she'd sat him down and told him everything. Told him that they'd just found out dad had a brain tumour. And that now, prospectively, he was on his deathbed. Although, her words were "You know as your dad is sick? Well, he might not get better". Hatori just shrugged and mumbled that he'd guessed so... They both sounded hallow at the time. But when a doctor came through, telling us that dad was in a stable position... but we shouldn't hold our breath... that made it all hit home.

It was hard accepting the fact that my dad could die, and I'd have to live without him, no matter how hard it might be, and no matter how hard every fibre of my being was fighting against that fact.

It was hard watching my mother become and emotional wreck in 0.37 seconds, and my brother cry himself to sleep because all of this was too hard for him to deal with.

It was hard to look my friend in the eye and not notice the guilt that was reflecting from those brown orbs, because she had a dad, and mine was close to dying.

It was hard not to rip the nurses face off, when she made a point to wander up every five minutes and say everything would be okay, though it obviously wouldn't be.

It was hard to stay sat down and stay quiet, even though I wanted to scream and kick, and cry, and run into dads room to see him, to make sure he was okay...

When the surgeon walked in with Kyouya by his side, and even he had that condescending "I'm sorry, but..." look on his face, I settled for bolting out the door.

I don't know where I was running to, or who was shouting for me to come back, or who I pushed out the way, or who gave me dirty looks as I sped past them, or how many cars screeched to a halt just in time to let me pass, or how long I heard footsteps chasing me, or when my lungs set on fire, or even when I started to cry...

I just kept running until I could run no more. Until my head went fuzzy, and I'd started breathing raggedly, and my legs gave way and I hit the floor.

Someone gathered me up in their arms, but I didn't care... because non of this was happening. It was a bad dream. As long as I didn't hear those words, it wasn't real...

It wasn't happening...

He wasn't gone.


	33. a true friend

So, you guys don't hate me? Thank god, the hiding space was cramped.

Anyways, sorry to anyone who I made depressed, made cry, or anything of the likes, I just write stuff and depending on the way I feel, the story alters.

But thanks for everything guys! 9 chapters left and we have like, 180 reviews or something close to it, or something like that. Which I am fairly impressed with since this is actually a fairly shoddy story.

Read and review, if it so pleases you.

* * *

The last thing I remember was collapsing in a park, then being rolled over and looking up into the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen.

Then I blacked out...

Imagine my surprise when I wake up and find myself being carried bridal style by the blue eyed, blond haired person down the street. A blond haired blue eyed guy I know to be Amatiro Nekozawa.

He must have felt me stir, because his eyes flicked towards me... sad eyes. He shushed me, and told me to go back to sleep, his long lanky arms cradling me.

So I did... I closed my eyes, and everything was peaceful for a while

-x-x-x-x-x-

I dreamt of being in a clearing, a banner floating in the air reading 'thinking spot' in bright, bold letters.

Dad was sat there, cross legged on the grass. I went up to him, and sat in his lap, and he hugged me close, and rocked me like I was a baby again, pressing his lips to my head and whispering that it would be alright... he was there for me... I'd be fine.

But it wasn't his voice that was whispering to me.

"...Amatiro..." I muttered, knowing it was him before I even opened my eyes.

When I did, I saw his eyes smiling before his lips even started to tug upwards. I was sat in his lap, head against his chest, so I could hear the steady thump of his heart, and I was tucked safely in his arms while he sat cross legged on a chair.

When I glimpsed the whitewash wall behind him, the 'clean, disinfectant' smell, and the soft rumble of voices from all around, I realized where he had taken me.

"I can't be here." I tried to tell him, but it only came out as a croaky, unintelligible whisper. I tried to get up, but he kept his arms around me tight, and my strength failed me. I felt too tired to even lift a finger, let alone stand and leave again, so I was secretly thankful he was such a stubborn person.

"Mai you need to listen." he said gently, and though I knew what he was going to say, I started to push him away, because I didn't want to hear it.

"No, please..." I whined, trying to push against his chest, but he wasn't letting up, and I felt so weak. So I gave up... gave in.

"Mai, just listen... your dad's okay. He's asleep right now, but if you want to go in to see him, you can. Your mum's in there now."

I blinked twice, then it registered. And though I felt relief surge through my body, I stayed put.

"How did you know where I was?"

"I saw you run, so I followed." he said simply, shrugging.

"Why?"

"Because I... I think of you as my best friend... I can't leave you to cry on your own. You might be a dip face, but I still like you." he said, smiling slightly.

I just smiled back, reached my arms up and hugged him.

"Thank-you."

-x-x-x-x-x-

I felt like like I had to be quiet, so I walked silently into my dads room and didn't say a word. Hatori was asleep on the chair in the corner, and mum was knelt by dads bed.

She was holding his hand, head on his wrist, and she was whispering. Praying.

Of course, she heard me coming, so she turned and gave me a small, hopeful smile.

"Hey baby." she said, holding one hand out to me, but still holding onto dad with the other. I knelt down next to her, and hugged her close, while she stroked my hair.

"You know the watch your dad has?" she asked, glancing at the old tattered thing.

"Yeah, it was your dads... you gave it to him."

"Mhmm, I got it off my dad when I was about seven... you wouldn't believe what that watch means to me."

"What does it mean to you?"

"A lot." she laughed "I can just rest my head on it, and I can hear my dad laughing, telling me he loves me... just by hearing that tick."

"Like... I could watch Marley and Me, and dad would pop into my head... saying he misses Chance."

To this, mum laughed long and loud, the she hugged me tighter.

"Your dad's a softie.." she chuckled, looking at him fondly.

Amid the wires, tubes, bandages, and incessant beeping, my dad was still there. His head was heavily bandaged, and you could only see his face, not anything else, but as long as he was breathing, I was somewhat happy.

"Is he going to be okay now?" I asked quietly.

She sighed, laying her head back down against his wrist.

"I have no idea..."

Of course she didn't. She didn't know this was going to happen. She'd thought that dad was getting better.

I guess I'd just have to wait this out with everyone else...

But there was no way I was staying here.


	34. getting revenge

Hi, enjoy, bye.

:D

* * *

I'd decided to keep going to school. So, Monday morning I got up, got Molly to pick me up to take me to school, so then mum could go to the hospital early to be with dad.

Molly turned up about forty five minutes early, walked in like she owned the place, saw me still in my pajamas and sighed.

"Come on, you need to get dressed." she grumbled, dragging me away from my cornflakes. I was going to shout at her, but showering my free ride in chewed up cornflakes and spit was not the best idea.

She grabbed my clothes, and while I got dressed behind a screen, she routed through my clothes.

"This top is cute!" she gushed, pulling one off a hanger and (for once) showing her girly side. It was a normal white tank top, but it had the england flag on it, stitched together with silver coloured thread.

"Keep it." I said, walking out to the mirror, to check my hair and fix my tie.

"Thanks." she said, smiling, putting it in her bag. "Now... finish sorting your hair out in the limo, we need to talk about if you're going to murder Lee for all the shit he spread about you."

"I'm not. I'm ignoring him."

"Seriously? You're going to be mature about it? Beating the shit out of him is the perfect stress release."

"Molly, as appealing as that sounds, I'm trying to be the better person... and did your dad put you up to this?"

"No, my mum did."

I laughed a little, then we stayed quiet for the ride to school.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I know I want to be mature, but he's making it so hard. Everyone thinks I'm a slut.

I'm in biology again, and Lee sauntered into the classroom, sat in front of me and grinned.

"Still time to take everything back." he whispered, leaning in close to me.

"Piss off you pervert. Carry on and I _will_ rip your head off."

I saw fear flicker in his eyes, and I smirked, because he and I both knew I could to that. I'm a Morinozuka, and for us, anything goes.

"We'll see." he hissed, then he sat up straight, looked indignant and cried out loud "You can't blackmail me with that!"

"Huh?" I asked, startled by his change in attitude.

"Well first of all, we used protection, so it can't be mine. Don't give me any of that 'get back with me, or I'll say it's your baby' shit. Everyone knows now, you lying skank!"

There were mumbled and gasps, and people looked horrified, confused and disgusted with me. Even the professor who had just walked in looked shocked, and stood next to his desk with his briefcase in hand, hovering over the whole 'should I stop them or let them fight it out?' issue.

He was turning everyone against me.

"You... you liar!" I shouted, standing up so suddenly, I knocked my stool back. "You filthy lying bastard!"

I marched around the table towards him, and he realized his mistake... pissing me off in a place I could easily get to him. Now I was going to put him six feet under.

"I have never had sex with you, I've never had sex with anyone! I'm a virgin dipshit! And 'cos I wouldn't let you get in my pants you said you did anyway, said you'd ruin my life, and set everyone against me!"

"Liar." he spat, but the colour was draining from his face... fast.

"Shut the fuck up, I'm going to kill you!"

"You're a fucking girl! You couldn't do anything. Go run to daddy and get him to sort it out. Leave it to the men you slut."

He just brought my dad into it, which reminded me he was in the hospital, in a coma, and tears stung my eyes. I saw black.

Net thing I knew, I was standing over Lee, who was crumpled up on the floor with a broken nose, black eyes to match, his leg was twisted out all funny, and a science stool was wrapped around his arm and chest.

There was about half the class, plus Suki and our professor who were clinging to me to keep me from him. They obviously hadn't gotten there soon enough.

"Jeez Mai! I know you're pissed and everything, and don't get me wrong, I would be too, but he only said to go get your dad, and you flipped!" cried Terry, who was just letting go of my leg. The tears spilled over as I wrenched myself away from everyone else, grabbed my bag, turned to Lee and screamed at him:

"My dad's on his god damn deathbed!"


	35. staying strong

Update for today, hoping you like it, and I think I'd like to hit 200 reviews by the end of this story, so we have seven chapters to do that guys! I'm working on my other fics, and have already finished the Saori x Kyouya fic! I work fast when I feel like it. Now I'm doing one called Celebrations, and after that I'm gonna do a fic which I am telling non of you about.

Should be fun! Ya? I think so.

Anyways, as I always say, enjoy!

* * *

In hindsight, screaming that my dad was on deaths door was not the best idea.

I'd been told to go to the headmaster by the assistant teacher who'd chased after me, and tried to comfort me, but knew Tamaki knew me better, but then again, because Tamaki knew everything that had happened to one of his closest friends, he let everything go without even a warning. He said as soon as Lee was out of intensive care, he was expelled... because frankly, he deserved it.

He did have to phone my mum though, and tell her that I'd put another boy in hospital, but she didn't care, saying the slimy git deserved it'. She even thanked Tamaki for expelling him, because otherwise she'd have come in and 'sorted him out', which I was fine with.

I was fine with everything, and I honestly never wanted to see Lee's face again, so I wasn't too bothered about him being expelled.

I was told to go home early, because my head was obviously not where it should be. Tamaki gave me a hug, like the caring adopted uncle he is, and said that Mitsukuni was picking me up.

Sure enough, within half an hour, my second cousin – might as well be uncle, thats all we ever called him – had pulled up in front of the school, and when I went out there, he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Hey honey." he said, holding me at arms length to smile down at me.

"I should be saying that to you." I said, teasing him slightly with his old nickname, but he just chuckled, and told me to get in the car.

Once he'd slid into the drivers seat, he started to drive me home so I could get changed and then go to the hospital to see dad.

"So, how are things?" he asked, breaking the silence that had settled between us.

"Um..." I mumbled, thinking about how shit 'things' had been lately.

"Never mind, stupid question..." he said, laughing somewhat nervously. "Between your dad and that dick that blackmailed you, things aren't so good."

"Nope..." I agreed "But I beat that guy up." I told him, smiling in self satisfaction. Mitsukuni chuckled darkly.

"Good, good... shame you only put him in intensive care though."

"Why? Whats worse than that?"

"Me and Takashi did that to a guy once, after he'd molested your mum when she'd first started at Ouran. It all worked out in the end."

"Meaning?" I asked, noticing his eyes darken, as if the memory along pissed him off.

"After we rearranged his face, he apologized and your mum forgave him."

"Jeez... you used to be really sweet, what happened?" I mumbled, sinking in my seat.

He was quiet for a minute, before he glanced back at me.

"Shit happened, and I had to learn the hard way that if you act like a child, then you get treated like one. High school was fine, but I had to change myself so much in college."

"...Oh."

"Besides Takashi, Saori was the only person who'd understand that I needed to be treated like an eighteen year old... though she did occasionally indulge me when I acted like a kid."

"Mum's cool." I admitted.

"You're a lot like her you know... much as you might hate me for saying it. Except, she swore more that I ever heard you swear, and you're more kickass... though... if Saori needed to be forceful, she could be... scared a lot of people."

He went quieter nearer the end of his sentence, then we looked at each other and burst out laughing.

He pulled up outside the door to my house, and I sprinted in to change into a pair of old jeans and an old white tee before running back out to the car and leaping in, saying:

"Off we go."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Dad was still sleeping, or in a comatose state, or whichever term was politically correct, but today mum didn't seem as clingy. She was asleep in a chair next to him, and then Mitsukuni walked up to the bed, pulled up a chair on the other side, and sat next to dad, looking solemn.

I decided since it was fairly crowded in here, I'd settle for giving dad a kiss on the cheek, and going back into the waiting room was just much easier than seeing dad hooked up to various machines.

As I walked back into the white room (as I called it, simply because of it's white walls) and I saw a familiar lanky boy with messy long blond hair.

"Amatiro, what are you doing here?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"Come to see if you were okay. I heard you near enough killed Lee... good job though, but then you got upset and came here."

"So... long story short, you were checking up on me."

"... Basically."

"That's sweet. Thanks." I said, smiling while I gave him a hug.

"No problem..."

"Wanna go for a walk?" I asked. "I'm fed up of this place."

"Sure."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"So, you broke his nose, gave him black eyes, broke his leg and wrapped a chair around him... and didn't even realize?"

"Something like that." I said, licking my ice-cream.

"Good. I never liked him."

"How come? You know, apart from the fact that he's a total dick."

"Since he outbid me, by one fucking yen." he said, chuckling.

"One yen... oh, so you're Sonny?"

He gave a smirk, looked at me and leaned in close to my ear.

"Duh."

Shock horror? Hardly.

"I thought it would be an amusing name, seeing as the Nekozawa's are generally a dark family... even my aunt Kirimi. Bit of a... cliché?"

"Hmm..." I mumbled, still trying to process the fact that if Amatiro had bid a little higher I wouldn't have had all that shit with Lee. "So you bid short of eighty thousand on me?"

"Yep. I wanted to see what the big deal was about."

"You should come to club some time then!"

"Host club's been shut up for now. Molly said that since one host was out of action, club was temporarily suspended."

"Oh, no... she can't do that." I moaned, slightly shocked that Molly would close up 'cos of me being all stressy.

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you... But they all agreed. Plus, they're all worried."

"I guessed so. But I don't want them to stop club." I mumbled, sitting on a nearby bench. Absentmindedly licking at my ice-cream.

"Maybe you should tell them that, or go and say you'll join in."

I just continued to eat my ice-cream. I know they'd be worried. Cali and Kanie because my dad is their uncle. Molly because her dad was trying to make my dad better. Suki was probably freaked out because I'd gone ape shit at Lee today, and then the Hitachiins would be confused about the whole thing.

"You need to cheer up. Misery doesn't suit you." Amatiro grumbled, leaning back on the bench and splaying his arms across the back. "I've known you for years now Mai... you've always cheerful and strong, and it's just wrong to see you sad."

"Really? Since when have I been strong?"

"Remember when we were younger, and everyone would pick on me 'cos I didn't have a mum? I was referred to as 'it' or 'the Nekozawa love child'. Loads of people hated me for something I had no say in what-so-ever, and they tried to convince my dad to give me up."

"Yeah..."

"Well, you were the only person who'd look at me without glaring, or play with me, share things, make me laugh and stuff... People that called me names found themselves hung by their underwear from the climbing frame, and you even went to Mr. Suoh to get him to stop them."

"... Tamaki was a 'love-child'. I remember him saying that his parents kind of eloped, and people shunned him at first because he was different. He could relate to you."

"A lot apparently." and obviously this news was new news for him, because he looked kind of humble. "Well... we went off track. Point is, Mai, you were always there for me, now I want to be there for you... always."

"...Thank you."

I'd finished my ice-cream long since now, so I could lean over to him, hugging him, resting my head in the crook of his neck, as he rested his head in top of mine, while wrapping his arms around me.

"No problem Mai... any time."


	36. he likes me?

Hi peoplez! Wazzup?

I'm just chilling right now, because I'm at college tomorrow, and tbh I'm bricking it. Shitting myself.

I'm scared.

Yuhp... but on the plus side, Ima make new friends, and Ima have fun... OMGZ and maybe I'll have a new gay best friends. That'd be so cool. I'd take him shopping and he'd tell me what clothes to buy~ Gay peoples are awesome.

I finished the Kyouya x Saori fic, properly this time, because I went back and added stuff. I'm doin another ... six shot. Sounds funny, but a chapter is for each host (the twins count as one)

Anyways, if anyone wants a one shot, feel free to ask cos I'm bored now. Okay?

Okay. Bye!

* * *

The past three weeks have been... somewhat difficult.

Since dad went to hospital after collapsing, Hatori pulled himself out of school because sometimes he would just end up crying, and then I'd have to run half way across the whole campus to try and console him, because no-one else could.

Mum's also gone kind of blank. She's like a robot. She wakes up, eats very little, showers, then goes off to do what she needs to do.

I'm the only one acting relatively normal. I go to school, see my friends, hang out with Amatiro (who I've been growing a little closer to) and still, I get treated like this is worst affecting me.

People see it as something to treat me differently for.

Teachers don't give homework, or if they do, they tell me I can do as much as I can or as little, if I didn't want to. Sounds like every teens dream, no homework. Well, I thought it sounded cool a few months ago, now it's shit because people think just because my dad's in a coma, then something is affecting my brain activity.

That sounded harsh...

I think that people must think I'd be 'off' on learning things when my dad was so ill. I'll admit, I find it difficult to pay attention sometimes when I think about my dad hooked up to all those machines and his possible death... but the teachers _seem_ to understand.

On a positive note, the club has had way more customers than before, and though Molly thinks it's only while my dad's ill, and people want to be nice, and then the numbers will drop a bit when he's well again... she seems happy enough raking the money in now.

Suki's not been as annoying and such a pester as she normally is, and in fact, since all this happened with my dad, she's been trying to make amends with hers.

She even dyed her hair brown again... though she still has some blue streaks in it. Her father let her do that as a 'compromise'.

And the strangest thing happened.

Hikaru and Kaoru visit the school every day now, to check on me, and then they stop at club, and mess about like they were sixteen again, and play the 'which one is Hikaru?' game. All the guests love them, because the girls think that they are fairly hot for adults (which I, and the rest of my generations hosts "Bleugh"-ed at) and the guys think they're hilarious.

Tamaki stops in every now and again too, and though at first some people may start to quiet down and behave, when the twins get to him, he tends to flip out and go all psycho crazy Tamaki, which leaves everyone else in fits of giggles.

So then Kyouya comes in, simply to drag Tamaki out since the twins would probably get their heads ripped off if they carried on, and all the girls in the club 'ooh' over him. They find him even more appealing that the twins.

After Tamaki has gone, and Kyouya can get back to whatever he was doing before he was 'rudely interrupted by a blond idiot' (his words, not mine), Mitsukuni came in! It was like a congregation of the old hosts, but the thing was, three were missing all th time. My parents, due to unmitigated circumstances, and Haruhi, because she couldn't be bothered.

But it was really cool when Mitsukuni came in, because quite a few of the guys and girls who came to club knew martial arts, and most trained in the Haninozuka, or Morinozuka way. So a lot of people would end up bowing to Mitsukuni, or something of that nature, but he just shrugged them off, telling them to relax, then he went on to have epic fights with Kanie and Cali.

We came to realize that they were indeed play fights, but they looked so real to everyone (except me, because I could see where they were holding back what could be bone crushing blows) that it became weekly entertainment, and people would pay just to come in and watch them fight, then leave.

It got even better when Kanie called in his uncle, Yasuchika (who, though he might be my second cousin, I never saw), and he and Mitsukuni fought. Then it got somewhat real, but Mitsukuni always managed to pull it out of the bag when it looked like Chika was gonna win.

Then when my uncle Satoshi came in, and he fought with Chika, that was just... epic. It was almost like they were going to fight to the death, but Mitsukuni would jump in and wrench them apart to cool things off.

So, club was getting a little more exciting, and it took my mind off some things, but sometimes, I just wanted to get out of there.

I'd go to the Dark Magic Clubroom.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Here again?" hissed the pasty faced girl who always seemed to hate me.

"Obviously. I'm not an apparition."

"I kind of wish you were." she grumbled.

"Would you stop it Alicia? Mai, are you okay?" Amatiro asked, walking over to me.

"I'm fine, just needed to chill out again." I said, smiling slightly at him.

"Nekozawa-san, she's not a member, she can't stay here." cried Alicia, pushing her way in between me and Amatiro so there was no way we could ignore her.

"So? Alicia, she's my friend. Stop getting jealous." he snapped, shooing her away while motioning for me to take a seat wherever I liked.

Alicia huffed and stormed out of the room, while Amatiro sat next to me.

"... Why does she get jealous?" I asked, glancing at him.

"She has her reasons." he told me, quietly.

"Those being?" I pressed, leaning forward a bit to look at him properly.

"Take a wild guess Mai." he chuckled, sitting back in his chair.

"Um... she's possessive."

"Yes."

"She... doesn't think I belong."

"True."

"She... likes you."

"And you've won the grand prize!" he cheered, then started to laugh to himself.

"Aw, well that's... kind of disturbing actually. She's a bit crazy."

"Indeed she is."

"What's my prize though?" I asked, bouncing slightly, hoping for some more of that 'magic metal' to throw onto the fire.

"Magic metal." he said, handing the beg to a gleeful me. It's like he read my mind.

"You know me too well!" I laughed, scooping some out and throwing it on the fire, turning the flames pink.

He just laughed, and watched me for a while as I entertained myself with turning the flames pink and purple and red and blue and whatever other colour I could.

Then a though popped into my mind.

"Amatiro, why would she be jealous of me? The only reason I can think of her being jealous of me is... is..."

"Yes?"

"Is... if you liked me." I mumbled, turning my attention away from the fire and to a candle in between Amatiro and myself. I dusted it with a little of the metal, while looking at him through the now green flame.

"That's an intriguing notion."

"Is it right?" I asked.

He looked at me again, those blue eyes shining.

"What do you think?"

I stared at him and it started to sink in. Amatiro liked me? Damn, I was stupid.

That's why he wanted to come to the resort, and bid on me. That's kind of why he never came to club, because though I was there, so was Lee... and the two never really got along.

That's why he was always there to help me out, or cheer me up, or hug me when I was sad. Because he liked the hugs too.

"Since when?" I asked.

"Since forever. Since you stuck up for me. Since you were my friend. Especially since you developed boobs." he chuckled, glancing at me in time to see me blush bright red.

"Perv." I mumbled, but I had to admit that his strange sense of humour had put me slightly at ease.

"I've always really liked you, but I never had the balls to admit it."

"Oh... well, I-"

I was cut off by a loud beeping in my bag, which was my phone, so I dived for it and answered.

"Hello?"

"Mai, it's Hatori. Mum's exhausted, so can you came and give her a break... you know..."

"Watch over dad."

"Kinda thing."

"Sure... be there soon."

I hung up and looked at Amatiro, who at the mention of my dad had gone really quiet.

"I have to go to the hospital... I'll see you later."

"Later." he said, looking slightly disheartened, but he smiled at me anyways, and I smiled back.


	37. figuring it all out

Hey, sorry I not posted for ages... college and such. Such a pain, and so bloody stressful.

But fun... ish.

Anyways, here's a chappy. Enjoy.

* * *

I walked into dads room, saw Hatori shaking mum awake, and walked over to her.

"Come on mum, you need to go get some sleep." I said, heaving her up onto her shaky feet.

"I can sleep here Mai." she said, making to sit down again, but then Kyouya walked through the door to my rescue.

"Saori. Go home." he said, taking her by the arm.

"I don't want to, you can't make me." she snapped, awake now, but now even more able to fight us off if she wanted to.

"Look, since I'm a doctor here, I can say you're suffering from severe exhaustion, and have you placed under house arrest until I think you're better."

"You can't do that."

"I have a police force. Try me."

They glared at one another for a moment, before mum admitted defeat. She sighed, turned, grabbed her coat and started pulling it on.

"Fine. But I'll be back here at six a.m. tomorrow..." she turned to me then, and hugged me, whispering in my ear "If anything happens, phone me right away."

"Okay mum." I whispered back, returning her hug.

I was left on my own as Kyouya took mum and Hatori out to the driver, and I took my time sitting down, pulling my homework books out, and making myself comfortable for a very long night.

I'd just finished long division when Kyouya walked back in to see if I was okay.

"Need help with that?" he asked, pulling up a chair and sitting on it backwards, so he was resting his arms and chin on the back, while facing me.

"Not really... I'm quite good at maths."

"Well, both your parents are brainiacs. It's hardly surprising." he said, with a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Dad's best at maths... mum gets everything else." I said, smiling.

"True... she was always clever." he said.

"... when's dad gonna get better?" I asked.

"I don't know Mai." Kyouya mumbled. "I honestly wish I knew."

"I wish you did too..."

"He's a very sick man." he said quietly.

"What is it he has?" I asked, wishing I hadn't, but wanting to know.

"A brain tumor, like he told you. We didn't know if we could get it out or not... But he also had an Extradural Hemorrhage. It was putting pressure on his brain. But it was lucky you saw blood, instead of him just falling unconscious."

"He would've just looked asleep." I mumbled.

"If he didn't have the hemorrhage, we wouldn't have gotten the tumor out. He probably would've died."

"Don't say that."

"Hmm... Maybe you should talk to him. See if you get a reaction."

He pulled me close, and gave me a kiss on the forehead (like uncles do if they love you enough) and then got up to go. I saw a flicker of pain in his eyes, and had to wonder... was he sad about this because he couldn't fix it? Was it because it was hurting mum and he didn't want to see her sad? … Could it be because she cared more about dad than him?

...No. He loved Lisa. Just 'cos he had a high school crush on her doesn't mean he still likes her.

Duh.

I sighed, and threw my books back into my back, then pulled my chair up right beside the bed.

Dad didn't look like dad. He had wires everywhere, making sure his heart was still pumping. He had some machine that was controlling his breathing, his body temperature... everything.

The only thing that was still dad about him was the blank look on his face... but even that looked different now. He didn't look apathetic, he looked... dead?

Scary thought.

Maybe I should try what Kyouya said, try talking to him.

"Um... dad?"

No response.

"This is pretty stupid, because I don't know if you can hear me or not, or if you can, maybe you don't know who I am. Well, it's Mai. Your daughter. I'm fifteen, but I'll turn sixteen soon, because... you know... it'll be my birthday."

Still no response.

"So much shit has happened. First of all, you're in a comatose state, and no-one is actually sure if you'll wake up, but don't worry, I'm not letting them pull the plug on you. I'll beat the shit out of them before they even get close."

Nothing.

"And... well, I got in a bad relationship at school. This guy called Lee... he kept blackmailing me and trying to get in my pants."

… I swear I saw his finger twitch. Or maybe I'm imagining him trying to make a fist because he'd wanna punch Lee in the balls.

"Don't worry, I beat the crap out of him. He's in intensive care somewhere... but sorry for getting into another fight. I caused a bit of trouble doing that at the beginning of the year."

Nope... nothing.

"Now I'm stuck in a rut. I dumped Lee, and since you've been here, I found out that Amatiro Nekozawa likes me. He's a really good guy... and he's cute, and nice, and I'm only saying this now because you're unconscious and can't give me 'the look'... I kind of like him too. He's been my best guy friend for years, and he's always been there for me, and the past few weeks he's let me talk to him, and vent to him, and everything..."

I sighed, and clung to his hand.

"Dad... I'm in such a muddle. I'm worried about you... I don't know what to do with Amatiro, and everyone if freaking out around me. Mum's not the same, Hatori's not the same... hell, even Kyouya's not the same!"

I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I wiped my face on the back of my hand.

"I'm tired too." I mumbled, than started to laugh, because I was more or less talking to myself.

I let go of his hand, leaned back into my chair, and closed my eyes.

I needed some shut eye.

-x-x-x-x-x-

_Sat in a clearing again, cross legged next to dad who was grinning at me._

_"What you smiling at?" I grumbled._

_"You." he replied, simply. It was then I smiled at him and went to hug him, and he wrapped his arms around me in one of his special hugs that only he could give... one I hadn't felt in weeks._

_"Why are you here?" I asked, looking at him. I was well aware that this was only a dream, but everything felt so real. He was warm to the touch, and his eyes twinkled like there were stars reflecting from them... but it was a figment of my imagination. He wasn't there, I was pretending he was._

_"You know why. I'm simply your subconscious in the form of someone you love and trust."_

_Strange as it was still dad talking, not me._

_"You, you're me, but you look like dad."_

_"Yes."_

_"This is beyond fucked up."_

_"Don't swear in front of me." he warned... which only made it weirder._

_"I can't swear in front of me?" I asked, utterly confused._

_"Well, you had to choose me? Could've picked yourself." he said, then in a blink, I was sat in front of myself._

_"This only gets weirder" said me, but the other one, not me... the subconscious me._

_"You're telling me..." I mumbled._

_"Technically, I'm telling me." said my duplicate, then she started to laugh, long and loud._

_"I'm fucked up in the head." I mumbled, holding my head in my hands, and when I looked up to see me, I was surprised to see someone else._

_"Hey Mai." he smiled._

_"Amatiro." I replied, nodding, but I was still conscious of the fact that it was me, I was just seeing him. "What are you doing here now?"_

_"You were thinking of me." he said simply, his eyes shining._

_"Right... why?" I asked, then he flickered back into me._

_"Because I'm thinking of people I love and trust." she said, winking at me and basically telling me what I'd known all along._

I trust Amatiro, and he's an awesome guy...

And maybe, after ten years of friendship, I was seeing him in a different way.

I guess it wasn't just in films and fairytales...

And I kne it for ages.

I love him.


	38. Amatiro, the truth is

Thanks for all the reviews guys! We're up to 215, and there's only four chapters left!

Everybody say YAY! Or not, that's a lil' strange.

Anyways, hope you like what you read.

Thanks.

* * *

When I woke up, I saw all my books pulled out of my bag and stacked neatly, and when I flicked through, all my maths and science homework was finished.

Kyouya must have come in again.

I looked back at dad, who seemed really peaceful.

"You know what dad... I like him too." I mumbled, smiling in spite of myself.

He did nothing, again, but that was hardly a surprise. He didn't do much these days 'cept sleep.

Then I saw the clock saying it was five to six, and I heard people outside the door. I pushed all my books back into my bag, and stood up, 'cos I know it was mum and a very rough looking Kyouya.

".. It's not my fault you have low blood pressure... And when did you last ever sleep? You should get some doctors to help you."

"I prefer to work on my own. Plus, there's not much to do now but watch him and monitor his progress."

They walked in to see me standing up. Mum smiled slightly, and Kyouya just nodded, but whereas before it looked like he was just not completely shaving all his facial hair off, it kind of looked like he was attempting to grow a beard... how had I not noticed this before?

I was just too hung up on my own issues. Damn... shaving cream for Christmas then?

"I take it I'm not the only person who's tired?" I joked, grinning at them both.

"No... I'm fucking exhausted." grumbled Kyouya, walking over to check the machines, jotted something down on dads chart, then walked back to the door.

"Mai, I suggest you don't go into school today. You need some sleep."

"Um... I wanna go in." I mumbled, putting my bag on and fumbling with the strap.

"Why?" asked mum, looking at me.

"Well, I wanna tell a guy I like him." I mumbled, feeling my face burn red.

"... Go for it." they chorused, then looked at each other and started laughing.

"Strangest ever reaction, but thanks..."

"It's strange you're telling us, but no problem." Kyouya said, then stuffed his fist into his mouth as he yawned.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I admit, I had no intention of going to school the full day, and Tamaki had already been notified and knew everything, so he said it was fine.

Mitsukuni picked me up from the hospital, and took me home. He stopped for a cup of tea, while I had coffee, and he talked to me, acting pretty childish as he did. Kyouya told him I was gonna tell a guy I liked him, and he was trying to make me tell him who.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"I'll cry."

"Fine.

"Pleeeeeeasee?" he gushed, grinning at me in a way that made him look twenty years younger.

"... No."

"Pweeease?" he asked, batting his eyes in a way that made me giggle, but realize why girls would've found him so cute when he was eighteen.

"Mitsukuni... this isn't fair." I pouted.

"But... if you loved me..."

"Fine, Jeez!" I cried, throwing the crust of my toast at him, which he could've caught, but he let it hit him, grinning.

"Go on then."

"Amatiro Nekozawa."

His reaction was priceless. He bounced up and down in his seat, and started yelling excitedly and incomprehensibly.

"Neko-chans son?" he asked, when he eventually calmed down.

"Neko-chan?" I asked, laughing.

We had this big conversation, comparing Umehito to Amatiro, how the father was a lot more sinister than his son, and how Amatiro was a lot more open about everything. Then I teased him about saying 'Neko-chan', and he just sulked for a while and said that old habits die hard, and he couldn't help it.

He did eventually leave, still chuckling to himself about me liking Amatiro, and I was left on my own, with only the few servants mooching about as company.

I put a sign on my door, telling them to stay out, so I wouldn't be disturbed, and I had a nice long relaxing shower, so then I was clean. Hospitals may be a sterile environment, but after spending the night there, I kind of felt dirty.

I then pulled on a pair of black jeans, and the only top I could find, which, ironically, seemed very fitting for the situation.

It said 'I love you' but the love was a heart. It was a dark green tee, with a pink glittery heart that looked awesome.

I tied my hair up, put on a green canvas military cap, and then pulled on some khaki green converse.

I looked pretty... pretty. If I do say so myself.

Now I just had to locate the driver we paid too much to skive off, and then I'd be at school.

-x-x-x-x-x-

I was near enough chewing on my heart, which sounds disgusting, but it had jumped so far up my throat, it felt like it.

The driver pulled up outside the gate, and waited for me to get out before going again.

Now I couldn't back out.

So I walked up the front steps, and into the halls.

It didn't take me long to figure out where Amatiro was... it was lunch break, and he was always in his club room when he had time spare. He was almost as impulsive as me when it came to cleaning up.

Though I could be worse.

A lot worse.

I got to the door where the black magic club room was, and I let myself in. There was a small hub down there, but I carried on regardless.

When I got down, there was no Amatiro, just Alicia and a few others, and I heard them muttering between themselves.

"She's a threat to us! She'll steal him away." hissed Alicia, glaring at the boys.

"She... she seems nice." started another boy, but Alicia smacked him.

"She's a snake in the grass, that's what she is! Amatiro fell for it... but we'll have her gone before she can do more damage."

They were talking about me. Obviously.

"Is cursing her the best thing?" asked the other boy, whose hands were trembling.

"Obviously. Just shut up and let me do it. I only need you here for witnesses."

"Alicia..."

"Shut up!"

I saw her raise a pin above a doll that looked remarkably like me, when the lights slicked on. The boys flinched, but seemed relatively unaffected, while Alicia freaked out, dropped the doll and passed out.

She really didn't like light.

"I suggest you two go. Now." growled a voice from behind me.

"S-sir-" squeaked one, but he was cut off by the cold voice again.

"Shut up! Get out now or I'll take you out myself!"

The boys ran, while leaving Alicia on the floor, and I turned to see who had come.

It was Amatiro, looking furious.

"Mai, you're okay right? She didn't stick the pin in did she?" he asked, fussing over me.

"No, Amatiro-"

"I swear to god, I'll kill her.." he growled, glaring at the unconscious Alicia on the floor.

"Amatiro-"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, resting his arms on my shoulders, and looking at me.

"Sure, but-"

"But? But what? Do you feel sick?"

"God sake." I mumbled, then lurched at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

"...Are you completely sure she didn't do anything? This isn't normal Mai behavior."

"I'm fine..."

He wrapped his arms around me, and I felt my heart swell, but back in it's normal place.

"I wanted to tell you something." I mumbled. "It's about you liking me..."

"Oh... well, you know, I understand and everything... I'm not exactly the best looking guy, and I'm a bit of a freak to be honest-" he said, chuckling slightly. "And I have to admit, it was an effective way to shut me up, hugging me..."

"Amatiro." I started, when he interupted again, stepping back from me.

"I'm talking too much aren't I?"

"I like you too."


	39. safe

Hey, this is all fluffy. I gotta fit good moments in with the bad stuff.

Sorry if you hate fluff... but I felt I needed to encorporate some. Ya know?

Anyways, only 3 more to go, and it's gonna spiral down... just so's ya know.

* * *

He was quiet for a moment, letting it sink in, when he started to laugh.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I didn't say so sooner 'cos all my feelings are fucked up."

"Which is understandable."

"And I thought about it last night... and I like you too..."

"Hmm... nice choice in shirt by the way." he chuckled, looking at the 'I love you' message.

"Thought you'd like it." I smiled, hugging him again.

"So... what now?" he asked, chuckling again.

"I think we move Alicia before she wakes up."

He groaned at me, then mumbled something in agreement, before slouching up to her to grab her feet and drag her to a sofa. Her head banged against the table leg, and all he said was 'oops', before grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up onto the couch.

The he went for the doll.

"This is quite good if I'm honest... you take care of it."

"Me?"

"Well, you're not bound to try to kill yourself, are you?"

"...No."

"Then take it."

So I did, and I stowed it away in my pocket.

"Come on. We'll leave her there... with the lights on."

-x-x-x-x-x-

We'd walked outside, talking quietly, when we reached one tree that still had some cherry blossoms on it. As it was mid summer, that was strange...

"I like this tree... it's always the last to bloom... but it's blossoms look more beautiful than the rest."

"Hmm..."

He sat down, grabbed my hand and pulled me down on top of him, then repositioned me so I was comfortable in his lap.

"Are we going out now?" he asked, nuzzling my hair (he'd taken my cap off).

"I... don't know. I'd love to, honestly, but with everything that's going on..."

"It'd stress you out more. I get you."

"We could call it a special friendship."

"A very special friendship." he laughed, hugging me, and I felt him press his lips to my forehead, which only made me blush. "Are you coming to school tomorrow?"

"I think so."

"Oh good. I miss you sometimes."

"Really?" I asked, grinning up at him.

"Yeah... when people don't see your ugly face, they notice mine."

"Damn... I gotta come then."

He chuckled, and held me, humming something softly to himself, while I relaxed in his arms.

I felt well and truly loved...

It felt nice...

It felt safe.


	40. everythings over

Hey! Fluff over, time for gloom. Only two left, so don't hate me.

I also decided that I'm leaving the end up to your own interpretation. But you know, I'm gonna give you a push to the right answer... though it is slightly vague.

All in all, you're going to hate me after this chapter :)

Good luck to me!

* * *

I'd gone back to the hospital later that day, a happier person.

I practically waltzed into dads room, but stopped dead when I saw mum crying next to dad.

"Mum... what's up?"

She shook her head, and continued to sob... she either couldn't tell me, or wouldn't.

"Mum!" I cried, feeling more freaked out as she sobbed, but she only shook her he head again.

So I ran out, and bolted down the halls, to Kyouya's office, praying he was there.

He wasn't.

"Fuck sake!" I screamed, kicking a hole in his door in frustration.

"Miss! I have to ask you not to do that!" called an older nurse, glaring at me.

"Shut the fuck up!" I yelled back. "Where's Kyouya?"

"Please refrain from using that language, or I'll call security." she warned.

"I could beat them down easy, now... where is he?" I shouted again.

However, I didn't get a chance to get an answer out of the old bat, as my shouting had aroused some unwanted attention. A security guard lumbered around the corner, stared at me, had a quick word with the nurse, then glared at me too.

"Causing trouble miss?"

"Try anything, and I'll have your ass."

"Who do you think you are?" he leered, walking towards me.

"A Morinozuka. Try anything and I'll have _you _on life support." I hissed, glaring at him.

He got the message. He backed of right away, looked at the nurse and grumbled "This one's for you to deal with."

Once he was gone, I looked at the nurse, and in my calmest 'I'm still angry' voice, I said:

"Now, for the last time... where is he?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I ran back down the corridors, through doors that were for staff only, but I had a key card, and tried to find consultant room three. Kyouya was there, in some meeting or other, but I didn't give a shit, I needed him.

I found the door, burst through, not caring about the other eyes that stared at me, looked my way in shock and irritation. I focused on the pair of gray eyes that had turned so cold.

"Kyouya..." I gasped, catching my breath.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mai Morinozuka."

There was a mumble of hello's and welcomes.

"I don't give a shit about introductions. Why's my mum crying?" I asked, looking at him.

"Mai... it's nothing." he said, but his eyes betrayed him, they shone in a way that told me tears were threatening to well up, and that didn't mean nothing was wrong.

"Don't... don't lie." I choked.

"Let's go outside."

-x-x-x-x-x-

I was crying with mum.

They said that dad wasn't still alive. He was brain dead. He was gone as far as medical science went.

Mum still had the decision to pull the plug on him, but I don't think she'll be able to. She'll cling to any shred of hope that he might pull it though... might be a miracle.

It would be a miracle.

Kyouya had cried too... he's apologized over and over, and I'd never seen him look so weak... so helpless...

So unbelievably human.

Not invincible. Showing such raw human emotion was rare for Kyouya.

But I didn't want to see it. Not now. Not ever.

We'd gone home. We'd cried some more, as we told Hatori, and he cried too. I didn't sleep that night, because every time I closed my eyes, I saw the heart monitor beep to a halt, and my dads chest fall for the last time because there was no life in him.

I ended up crying myself to sleep.

An empty, dreamless sleep, where not even the image of my dad smiling passed through my mind.

If mum had something to cling on to... she was lucky.

I had nothing now.


	41. word gets round

I'm sorry if you guys hate me, even if you won't admit it. Still, I'm thinking of other things :) Might continue this some other time.

Might be a mirical if Takashi lives. Might...

And I have to say thanks to those that are complementing my writing. I try to get emotion across as accurately as possible, but ya know, I'm not the best.

Anyways, enjoy :)

* * *

I'd told mum to phone me when she decided what to do. I couldn't go back to the hospital now... it just didn't feel right.

I went to school instead.

The ride seemed to go on for ages, and the driver that normally grumbled to himself about how much he hated his job, was quiet for once. He even passed a box of tissues back to me when I started to get upset.

"Sorry." he mumbled, but I waved it off... it wasn't his fault.

And instead of pulling outside the gates and leaving me to walk in, he took the turn to go into the parking lot, and dropped me off there, where it didn't take half as long to get in. I was jest getting out when I heard his gruff voice.

"Try to have a good day."

"...Thanks." I replied, getting out, and shutting the door after me.

I was late today. I'd had trouble dragging myself out of bed, and now all the halls were quiet because everyone was in homeroom. I wandered around aimlessly, not bothering about actually getting to class, but I did eventually get there.

I walked in, ignored everyone, and took my seat. There were quiet mumbles, and Suki was looking at me worriedly, but I kept my face vacant.

It was a lot easier wearing a mask than I'd first interpreted. I see why dad sis it all the time... Sure, my mind was buzzing, but I looked like I just tried acting like I didn't give a shit.

"Mai...?" Suki started, turning to me fully and looking at me.

"Yes?"

"Um... are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I replied flatly.

"Don't give me that. You're scaring me... come on."

"Nothing's wrong."

"...Liar." she muttered, turning around again, huffing.

I shook my head slightly, and looked out of the window.

It was a perfect day, early summer. It was nice and warm, but not humid. It wouldn't make you sweat, but you wouldn't chill either.

The sky was blue, the birds were singing, flowers were blooming... there were a few bees buzzing about... and it all seemed wasted.

It might as well have rained. I wanted something to reflect my mood.

"Mai?" came my homeroom teachers voice, drawing me back to earth.

"Yes?" I asked, looking at her.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look oddly vacant."

"I'm fine." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Would you like to come outside and talk?" she asked gently.

"If I must." I whispered, standing and following her out.

She closed the door to the class, and looked at me sympathetically, and clasped her hands.

"Mai... I've been made aware of your... family issues... is that why your upset?"

I didn't say anything, I just averted my eyes.

"Mai... would you like to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Oh..."

We were both quiet for a minute, before I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

"He's in a coma... He had a brain tumor, and now he's not waking up. They say he's brain dead and my mum has to make the choice to turn off life support." I mumbled, hugging myself. "I dont want her to... I know if he's brain dead then... then that's it. I just don't want to lose my dad..." I choked, feeling a tear slip down my cheek, and I tried to stay quiet, but I felt a bubble swelling inside me, and I knew it was about to pop... and I was about to cry.

Miss was quiet too, before she wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm so sorry Mai..." she mumbled, then took hold of my hand and started to lead me down the halls. God knows where, I was just trying to keep the majority of my tears back, but my eyes didn't want to co-operate.

I ended up in Tamaki's office, and the first things I noticed about him was his bloodshot eyes and tear stained face.

He knew too.

He quickly sent my teacher away, thanking her, and then he pulled me into a tight hug, rocking back and forth, and we both cried.

Then there was a bit of a hubbub outside, and someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Tamaki called, wiping his face quickly and trying to put on a professional face. Next thing I know, Suki was in here with Thunder and Storm, Kanie, Cali, Molly and Amatiro.

"W-what are you all doing here?" Tamaki asked, gaping at them.

Molly didn't answer, she just strode forward and hugged me, then started bawling. Which then set me off again, which made Cali start crying because she was stressing out, Kanie looked flustered, Suki and the cousins looked lost, and Amatiro could only come over and hug me (and Molly, but because she was clinging to me, that was a given).

Tamaki was flustered too, because he then had to call to have several more chairs brought in, and have about nine cups of tea and coffee made.

We all ended up sat down, and very, very tense.

"Mai... you need to go home. You need to rest, and have time to think things through. Talk to your mum. Talk to your brother. Talk to your friends. You could all go with her if you want, but only if she wants it too." he mumbled, quietly.

I looked to my left, where all my friends were sat, and I focused my eyes on Molly and Amatiro.

"Could you two come with me?" I asked, gulping. They nodded, and we all got up, said goodbye to the others, and walked off to call my limo.


	42. decisions

Hey, last chapter.

I gotta say thanks... thanks to all those who read, reviewed, put the story on alert... put me on alert!

Sorry to those I have dissapointed, sorry to those I have upset with the cliff hangers and such. And also, the ending is now left to your enterpretation, unless of course I have a high demand of people telling me to make another sequal to this, and then it would be a threequal. But whatever! Hope you enjoy, and try not to be too mad at me :)

Cheerio!

* * *

Hardest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Mum still hasn't made a decision. I've more or less dropped out of school. Amatiro visits every day, and mum spends her time holed up in her room. Hatori in his. Me in mine.

We were, in essence, a broken family.

I was on my bed, using Amatiro's stomach as a pillow, when I heard the phone ring. I would've gotten up to go and get it, but someone was already on their way downstairs. I knew it was mum, as she had a tendency to jump from the last step, and indeed she did. Every time.

"Amatiro."

"Yes?"

I paused, and rolled over so I was facing him.

"What's it like... to only have one parent?"

He looked at me, then smiled wryly. He reached out and stroked my hair back then pulled me close to hug me.

"It's been nothing like what you're going through. I never knew my mum, and since I was born and left with dad, he's been both parents. He's been all I've ever needed, and all I ever will in that sense... I don't even know my mums name... You're so close to your dad, so losing him... well, it's gonna be hard."

"I know..." I mumbled, burying my face into his chest, hearing his steady heartbeat.

"It will be hard... but it... it gets easier coming to terms with the fact that you only have one parent... and you never know, he might make it."

"Hmm..." I mumbled, snuggling into him.

He cuddled me and kissed my forehead, and then I heard footsteps coming down the hall. A knock on my door signified my mums presence.

"Honey, we need to talk." she said, as she poked her head around the door. "Amatiro, could you go and keep Hatori company?"

"Sure." he mumbled, slipping out of my room and closing the door quietly before going off down the hall.

"Mum... what's wrong?" I mumbled.

She sat down on the bed next to me.

"Well... sweety... it's about dad... I've made a decision..."


	43. UPDATE!

Hola Muchachos!

Right, I dunno if any of you peeps will remember me or whatever, or if you're all still angry at me for the way I ended this story, but I wante to say hi!

And I'm also making the threequal I promised :D Finally!

To all those that are looking now, I dunno if you'll understand this story if you haven't read the prequal. That's called Life Across Waters and this is Stand in the Rain. Then next one will be 'Breaking Tides' so keep an eye out :) Lets hope you all still like Saori enough xx Thankies!


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